How lucky I was that you found me
by Leikar
Summary: Perhaps losing his memory was just a chance for a fresh start.
1. Chapter 1

That Chrom guy could say anything he wanted about Robin not being their prisioner. He was still being watched by Frederick and half-forced to go to a strange city a couple of days away. It didn't help to calm down his nerves knowing that another one of Chrom's Shepherds was with them. She had arrived during the battle against those humanoid monsters, and traveled with them since.

A self-proclaimed amnesiac with Plegian features and clothes, but unusually pale skin and _feroxian_ accent was pretty much a walking anomaly. Not to mention his innate talent with tactics, magic and physical weapons. He didn't blame Frederick for not trusting him. He simply wished his axe was a little further from his hand.

Robin didn't understand why they had to go to the capital to sort out what kind of hidden hole he had crawled out exactly. But he went along, knowing escaping would be impossible and stupid.

At least they were giving him free food.

Ylisstol was a big city, bursting with activity and people everywhere Robin looked, especially in the market district. Some were haggling the prices of their vegetables while others anounced their goods in hopes they would attract interest. A couple of kids almost ran him over while playing, their apologies getting lost in the wind. Robin was sure he had accidentally kicked a chicken at least once. He also noticed the strange looks some people were giving him or, rather, his clothes.

He was about to ask Chrom to choose a less crowded path to wherever they were bringing him when a voice in the crowd yelled. The Exalt was coming. Everyone got closer to the houses and selling stands without hesitation to open a way for her and her pegasi guards . That, along the security that surrounded her, made something in Robin's brain click.

"She's your ruler, right?" He guessed.

"Indeed." Frederick answered "Her name is Lady Emmeryn. She's a symbol of peace for Ylisse."

"And she's the best big sister in the world!" Lissa happily yelled.

It took Robin a couple of seconds to process that information. She was _her_ sister? "But doesn't that mean you are…?"

"The prince and princess of the realm, yes." Frederick answere[[d with a smile that made Robin very nervous. "How curious you didn't know that. You did know milord's name but not this."

"I'm amnesiac!" He defended himself.

Robin could feel he was getting flusetered already. He had been talking too casually with not one, but two members of royalty. He was glad they hadn't cared at all, otherwise a part of him was sure his head would have rolled already. Now thinking about escaping sounded like an even worse idea, if that was possible. Not to mention that Frederick was their retainer. The _prince's_ retainer. Robin was sure it had to be mandatory for him to be the strongest man in the realm. And the knight had been close to throw an axe to his face; only Chrom had stopped that.

Robin didn't know if he was the luckiest or unluckiest person in the world.

"Emm is returning to the palace." Chrom said then "Would you like to meet her?"

" _Do I have a choice, prince Chrom?_ "Robin barely managed to swallow a sarcastic answer his brain unhelpfully provided, and nodded. He was sure he had become a formal prisioner by then.

* * *

Lady Emmeryn was a gentle woman that spoke kindly but firmly. Robin tried to avoid being too close to her, both out of respect and because he wished to go unnoticed, while Chrom and Lissa talked to her. But his wishes got crushed fast, since he was the main reason why they were there in the first place.

"Robin fought bravely against the brigards, so I wanted him to become the Sheperd's tactician."

Chrom's voice caught his ears. Wait, what? He had thought the first part was a trivial comment to praise his abilities despite his lack of memory. Did that meant he couldn't leave after that meeting was over?

But if he did leave… Well, being left in the middle of nowhere with no memory of who he was or where he could go wasn't the most appealing idea. Accepting Chrom's proposition perharps wouldn't be that bad, after all. At least until he discovered a little bit more about himself.

"Forgive my interruption, Your Grace, but Robin's claims of his memory loss are just claims as far as we know. We can't rule out the posibility of him being a Plegian spy."

Oh, yeah. That.

"Frederick!" Chrom frowned, not happy with his input.

Robin shrugged and gave an apologetic smile when the royals stared at him. The knight was right after all, and he didn't have anything else to defend himself with.

"He fought against Plegian brigards to protect an Ylissean village. He risked his life for our people. That's enought for me." Chrom declared, sure of himself.

Emmeryn seemed to smiled at his words. "Well then, Robin. Chrom seems to trust you greatly, so I'll put my trust on you as well. Welcome to Ylisse."

"Thank you." Robin answered. "To be honest, I don't believe Plegian's are my friends."

"And why is that?" Frederick's words still sounded distrustful, but they were curious as well.

Robin bit his lower lip and stared at one of the columns. "After the fight against brigards and those monsters I… remembered something. One single thing."

"And yet, you didn't tell us inmediately." Frederick's comment earned an angry glance from Chrom. He stoically ignored it while staring at Robin.

"You didn't believe I was amnesiac. You still don't." The Plegian man replied. "And the only thing I remember anyway is… me being on a river while some Plegians were attacking a woman until she died."

"Brigards don't usually care about one's origins."

"I have the feeling the both of us were expecting that to happen on day or another."

"You were being pursued?" Lissa asked, worried.

Robin blinked and unconciously started scratching his neck, thinking. Was he? "I… Maybe? I don't remember…"

"If you were, you'll be safer with the Shepherds." Chrom assured him.

"If I was, they could also attack the Shepherds now that I'm here." Robin replied.

But at the same time, it was such an unexpected movement... To become part of another country's militia hand in hand with the prince. It could throw off his pursuers for a while, if he hadn't done that already before losing his memory. He hoped he had.

It really did look like becoming a tactician was the best course of action for the moment.

"Well, if despite this you'll accept me, I'll be glad to be of service." Robin accepted.

Chrom smiled at him when he heard that, and Robin felt like smiling back at him. Then Emmeryn said how she and Chrom had to go for a council and excused themselves. Lissa took the newly appointed tactician's hand to get him to know the rest of the Shepherds.

* * *

Robin didn't know what to think exactly of the group tasked with protecting the halidom. They were nice, sure – well, except the blonde noble girl with big curls, but Lissa had asked him to give her time. But most seemed quite… eccentric. Despite Chrom's confidence on his battle plans, he didn't remember doing anything like that before, and he wasn't sure of what to do with such a group. At least, if they had been so long without a tactician, they could fend for themselves while Robin sorted things out. He hoped they could.

Robin sighted and entered his new room. With the demilitarization of the halidom Lady Emmeryn had done once the previous war was over, more than half of the barracks were empty. The Shepherds had the privilege of not only getting their own private room, but also choosing where it was. Most of them would get it as close as possible from the canteen, to make sure they would be the first to eat and get the best portions. But Robin wanted quietness, so he chose one of the furthest instead. The only other Shepherd close to him was Miriel, living next door. The closest room in use was six doors away.

Robin's room was small, and probably only two soldiers would normally live in there. There was a single bed, a desk with an unlit candle, a bookcase and a chest for the clothes; and there was a small room with the toilet. Robin's only belongings were a sword, a magic tome and a knife. He thought it was strange for him to not have some kind of pouch with food and other necessities for travel. But he didn't remember anything beyond a couple of days, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Even after he had settled down, the room barely changed. It was almost as if anyone was still living there. He felt a little unsettled by it, as if that wasn't his place and he wasn't needed. As if he should just go and continue going wherever he was taveling before he lost his memory. As if nobody there would miss him.

He felt his stomach turn. Both the tome and the sword he carried with him showed signs use before he had been found by Chrom. Maybe he had to use them because of wherever he had been before… Maybe…

His darks thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Robin jumped, startled, and went to open it. He found the prince's smiling face when he opened it.

"I wanted to check how you're doing. Did you finished putting everything away?"

"Oh, yeah." Robin opened the door wider to let him see the room. "It's not like I brought many things with me, anyway…"

"That just means you will have a lot of space to put the things you'll get with the new memories you'll make with us, right?"

Chrom's smile was like the sun. Not because it was bright or wide, but because it gave everyone who watched it a soft warmth and safeness. It was like laying down on a flower field on a day without clouds and taking a nap, knowing you would be safe. At least, that was how Robin felt when he saw it.

"Yeah."

Perhaps staying was truly the right choice.

* * *

Oooohhh boooooyyyyy. This is the first multichapter fic I managed to plan in six years and I'm so excited about it! I really hope you like it, guys!

Also, Robin is trans!


	2. Chapter 2

The four-day journey to Regna Ferox was mostly calm. The only incident they suffered was an encounter with a group of the newly named "risen", the same monsters that had attacked them on the way to Ylisstol. It was Robin's first real battle as a Shepherd, and the first time he would have to prove himself in front of his new companions. The thought made his stomach turn. The attack had been completely sudden and he had no idea were to start, nor time to think cautiously about it. And to make things worse, one of his companions had _lost his weapon_.

Robin breathed deeply and quickly checked the terrain in front of him. Most of those monsters were at the other side of the river, so the bridge could make a good chokepoint. He sent Frederick and Stahl there to stop them from advancing, Miriel to help the knights with magic and Lissa to heal when necessary. Then he sent the other Shepherds to deal with the rest of the risen on their side of the river.

The battle went well and no one got badly hurt. Robin blushed at the many compliments he got from the Shepherds that were fighting under his comand for the first time. Even Sumia thanked him, since he had had to think of a way to make sure she wouldn't be hurt while the others fought. Although Robin was sure he had seen an enemiy been suddenly defeated a few steps before reaching her…

"That was great, Robin! You're an amazing tactician!" Lissa happily chirped when they continued marching north.

"Thanks…" Robin smiled at the compliment, but he felt a little bit embarassed.

"I will admit I thought you could have ulterior motives when giving orders." Frederick added.

"You're the one with the best armor and the strongest horse!" Robin complained "If someone could have hold the risen off on that bridge, it was you. And I sent Lissa to heal you in case something went wrong!" He defended himself.

"And he sent Miriel and Stahl to support you. He clearly didn't want you to get hurt." Chrom added, feeling a little annoyed seeing his leuteniant was still sceptical.

But Robin let it go. He had the feeling that he would need more battles to prove himself, so he didn't argue. Well, if Frederick wanted more proof of his non alliance with Plegia or brigards, he would have them. And the tactician didn't mind that at least _one_ person wouldn't trust right away the random amnesiac guy found on the ground that was clearly not to be trusted right away.

* * *

Once the misunderstanding with the border guard had been cleared, Chrom agreed to help Khan Flavia to gain the shared throne of the Khans. It woud still take a week and half for the tournament to start, and they would have to travel another two days to get to the place where it would be celebrated. Chrom decided to send a letter telling his sister of the developments.

Robin decided to take that chance to watch the rest of the Shepherds training and making sure he could develop a good strategy for the tournament. The last thing he wanted was letting the prince that had given him a home die. Or any other of the Shepherds. He did hope that Khan Flavia's wish for them to survive the tournament was an exageration.

He spent the little free time he had wandering around the feroxian town. It was place built in hard stone, almost constantly covered in snow. The arena could be seen from anywhere in the city and the surrounding mountains. The second day after their arrival, after sliping for the third time on ice, buying a couple of warm meat bread rolls to eat and watching some children play on the frozen river, he realized the feeling that had been at the back of his mind the whole time was nostalgia. That place felt like home…

He was staring blankly at the people on the river below him when a sudden presence brought him back to reality. Khan Flavia smiled at him as greeting, and sit next to him.

"So Yilisse's tactician likes to wander around the town with the common folk."

"It's a really nice place. And I like the snow and the cold weather." It had been a recent revelation that had made him strangely happy.

It also made him… well, "remember something" wouldn't be the right way to say it, but he had felt some strong emotions that were definetly related to the place. Or, at least, with how that feroxian city was. Perhaps he hadn't been _there_ , but he had been on a similar place before.

Khan Flavia roared with laughter.

"That's more that what half of your Shepherds can say!"

Robin chuckled when he heard that.

"Yeah, I've seen they're not very used to the cold weather."

Flavia stared at him with with a glint of curiosity on her eyes. She seemed to be pondering something and wasn't sure whether to talk about it or not. She finally made up her mind, and opened her mouth again. But the words that came from it weren't in common Ylissean.

" _So you are a Plegian man with a feroxian accent._ "

Robin's brain didn't have trouble understanding the words it was hearing, despite being quite different from everything he had heard until that moment. Even in their first meeting, Khan Flavia had spoken Ylissean, probably wanting to make her guests feel more welcomed and willing to fight for her on the tournament.

" _So it seems._ " Robin answered in the same language.

It both surprised him and soothed him how easily the words came from his mouth, as if his brain had been patiently awating the moment he would use that language again. They seemed even easier to pronounce for him that Ylissean.

Khan Flavia looked surprised at the answer, despite having been the one who had started the conversation in another language.

" _I was told about your amnesia. Do you remember anything about this place? Or another Regna Ferox town you could have been?_ "

Robin scratched his neck and looked away. The children down the bridge seemed to be racing and one of then had fallen and was slipping away. Two other kids tripped on him and fell as well.

" _No._ " The tactician finally answered. " _I don't remember anything specific, but I do have the feeling I've lived in a place like this for a long time, with my mother. Maybe that's why I have this accent._ "

" _The strange thing is that you don't have an ounce of Plegian accent. As if you've never lived there._ "

Robin just sighted and kept staring at the children playing. They had gotten tired of the race and were making snowmen at the banks of the river.

He didn't have an answer to that.

"Well, sorry, it's not like I came here to interrogate you." Flavia apologized, feeling she had gone too far.

Robin shrugged. "It's fine. I would be curious if I were you, too. I just don't really have many answers."

"It's a shame Chrom found you first. I you had been wandering closer to our capital, I could have made you our tactician instead." She winked. Robin laughed. "Dinner will be ready in an hour on the canteen in the arena. Don't be late or you won't be able to eat!" She got up. "See you there, master tactician."

"I'll keep it in mind." Robin smiled.

He got up too and followed her. Snow was great, but a warm meal sounded even better.

* * *

The cries of the audience were deafening and could be heard far away from the battlefield. Robin had to resist the urge to groan when he saw it. It was a completely flat field, with no high terrain they could take advantage of. He had already expected that, of course; but he had hoped for some obstacle that would help him plan. That Marth was strong and skilled; and fighting head on would be hard.

Robin knew something was wrong when he saw Chrom froze next to him when he saw Marth. The tactician followed the direction of his gaze and focused on the sword Marth had. It looked like the Falchion. In fact, it was _exactly_ like the Falchion. As far as Robin had been told, that was impossible; and Chrom's reaction confirmed it.

Chrom running straight to Marth the moment the battle started and ignoring the plan confirmed it further. Robin did quick mental changes and barked orders to the rest of the Shepherds. He run off with Lissa to get to Chrom and give him support.

Watching Chrom and Marth fight was like watching Chrom fight with a mirror. The same moves, the same angles; but directed at himself. Despite Chrom's ability, it was obvious that he wasn't used to fight against someone that fought so similarly to him, and it was unclear whether he would be able to win. Robin intervened, throwing a fireball that surprised Marth and helped Chrom knock his sword from his hands.

The battle was over a little after that. The audience roared, celebrating the new champions and their new Khan. Despite Chrom's attempts to talk with Marth, when the mediator aproached Chrom to declare the Shepherds winners, the young man managed to slip in the shadows, unnoticed.

* * *

The crecent moon hanged in the sky, with a few stars and many dark clouds joining it in the darkness of the night. Chrom was pacing quickly around the wall of the arena, crushing the snow with his boots.

Robin had had a bad feeling when he saw his commander's expression after the fight, and instead of going to his temporary room in the building, he had gone to the upper part of the coliseum. His hunch had been right, but still didn't know what to do. Chrom looked furious or, at least, unsettled and very nervous. Robin had heard him yell in anger before, but Chrom was so clearly disturbed the tactician wasn't sure how he would react if he tried to aproach him.

Still, it was obvious that he had to do something, if only to convince him to go to his room and stop trying to freeze himself walking outside in the coldest hours of the night. Robin breathed deeply and aproached him, trying to be loud to anounce his presence. Chrom stopped walking when he heard that and looked over his shoulder. He frowned when he sae Robin getting closer and started walking again. Robin sighted.

"Chrom, wait, please!" He ended up yelling, hoping Chrom would stop again.

He did, but his expression showed the tactician wasn't a welcomed distraction.

"What?" He abruptly said once Robin reached him. The Plegian man flinched at the voice and looked away, but still talked as firmly as he could.

"It's late and you should go to sleep. We leave in a couple of days."

"What we should be doing is looking for that "Marth", not wasting our time!"

"He left right after the battle." Robin tried to reason with him. "He could be anywhere and-"

"That's why we should be after him! The more time we waste here, the less likely we are to find him! We have to ask him where did he get that sword and how-"

"Chrom!" Robin yelled.

It was so sudden the prince felt silent and stared at him, surprised. Robin had closed his eyes and seemed to be trying to choose the right words. He slowly opened his eyes and aproached the nervous commander.

"Chrom." The tactician started again. He softly grabbed one of his hands and stared at him with a calm expression. "Breath. I know. This is weird, beyond weird. Completely unexpected and possibly dangerous; and we need answers. But we just fought a very hard battle and the Shepherds need to rest. And so do you. "Chrom tried to reply, but Robin talked faster. "We came to Regna Ferox for a specific reason: to get help to fight the brigards Plegia sends. And we did it. Now we have to inform your sister. Or I am wrong?"

Chrom stared at him and then sighted. It was true.

"Also, think about it. Both times we saw Marth he came to us. I doubt this will be the last time we'll see him."

The first time, he fell from the sky and went directly to protect Lissa from the risen. And then he had defeated Basilio's champion in a situation that definitely didn't seem a coincidence. Marth had bested Lon'qu and gotten his position as Basilio's champion. Robin was sure he had done it specifically to see them.

Chrom finally seemed to relax a little.

"You're right. I haven't even written Emm a letter yet."

Robin smiled when he saw him relax. He also realized he was still holding his hand. Gods, what was he doing?! He tried to let it go as smoothly as possible, but Chrom didn't notice it and kept holding it. Robin could feel his face getting warmer and was glad the night was that dark. He tried hard to not focus on their hands.

"Well, then I suggest you go to sleep and write that letter first thing in the morning so you can send it. Agreed?" Robin was proud that his voice didn't tremble a single time while saying that.

"Agreed." Chrom accepted, nodding.

They walked together to the door leading inside and then Chrom let go of Robin's hand. They went each to their room.

Robin didn't dare to look at himself in the mirror before going to sleep.

* * *

It always felt odd to me that Chrom barely reacted when seeing Falchion 2.0. beyond the battle at the arena.

It's not as if it wasn't unique, only usable by chosen ones with the right blood who happen to be royals, and one of his country's royal treasures.

:/


	3. Chapter 3

Here is the promised smut! It's the first and last of the fic. It's also the first one I've writen in 5 years, so... uh... I hope you like it.

There's somewhat important info, but I'll make a summary at the end notes for those who don't want to read this. I understand if you'd rather skip the smut.

* * *

The news about the help Regna Ferox would offer was recieved with joy in the Ylissean castle. Things got quieter in the border with Plegia, so the Shepherds could focus on guarding the countryside. The brigards may had lessened their numbers, but the risen had not. The Shepherds had to fight against them often to mantain the roads safe. There was a battle almost always they went somewhere.

The strategy then had been rather simple and straightforward: to charge against the risen while taking cover in the forest. There were no archers nearby, so Sumia was in charge of harassing the monsters to make sure they wouldn't take advantage of the woods as well. But Robin didn't predict reinforcements would come so fast from the nearby mountains.

They weren't many, but they were strong and quick. They arrived at the valley before he had time to think of something against them, and threatened to overwhelm the Shepherds. He yelled at Virion to get on Sumia's pegasus and shoot them from above, and for the mages to get on someone's horse and run around in circles, throwing magic at them. It was a simple distraction, but it worked well enough the Shepherds could regroup and reorganize.

Robin was so focused of checking that everything was going well he didn't realize he wasn't the only one hidden in among the trees. Chrom, a few trees away from him, saw the assasin risen draw his sword and yelled a warning, but Robin reacted to slow and the blade slashed the flesh on his chest, through his left shoulder and arm. The tactician groaned before the pain and shock made him faint. Chrom ran towards the risen and ended him with a precise strike to the head.

Chrom kneeled next to the unconcious man. There was a lot of blood turning red his cloak and white shirt, and the prince could feel himself starting to panic. He suddenly heard the hoofs of a horse aproaching, and he turned around ready to defend Robin from more monsters. But it was just Frederick, bringing Lissa on his mare so she could check on him as fast as possible. They must have seen what had happened as well.

His sister hopped down the horse and aproached fast the unconcious man. She used her staff inmediately to let the wound heal faster and stop the blood loss. Then she asked the other two men to get him onto the horse so they could bring him to the base and treat him. Frederick promised Chrom to be back as soon as possible, and he and Lissa left for the feroxian wall that could be seen in the distance. Chrom was left alone, covered by the woods. He wanted nothing more than go with them and make sure that the tactician was fine, but the Shepards needed their leader in battle, and that one hadn't finished yet.

* * *

Once the agreements with Khan Flavia had been made after the tournament that won her the shared throne, she had laughed and insisted that they could use any of the forts along the wall that marked the border as a temporal base for whatever they needed. The feroxian in charge of the wall were more than happy to recieve them, since that meant more news from beyond the border, a chance of commerce (the Ylisseans didn't like to abuse their hosts and usually brought more supplies than needed) and extra help in case problems arouse.

Lissa acted fast, bringing the unconcious tactician to his room and locking the door after her. She used a vulnerary and a poultice, making sure the area started to heal. She sighted after half an hour, once it was clear that Robin was out of danger, if still hurt. She bandaged the arm and shoulder carefully and left the room to let him rest, leaving the robe on one of the chairs with the bandages he usually wore on his chest.

* * *

The room was covered in shadows when Robin woke up. Thanks to the dim light of the small fire that remained, he realized he was on his temporary room in the base at the wall. A glance at the closest window told him it was night, since only the light of the stars could be seen through them. Another glance at the room made him realize he wasn't alone.

Chrom's head was resting on the bed, next to the tacticians chest. His face was hidden by the sheets, his dark blue hair looking almost black in the darkness. His chest was rising slowly, indicating he was asleep. He had grabbed one of Robins hands.

Robin noticed the Falchion and the shoulder pad were gone, but a quick glance at the oposite wall let him find them at the table next to it. Robin frowned. How long had he been there, asleep?

The tactician sat up slowly, checking if the wound hurt. He just felt a slight discomfort when pressing the arm against the bed in an attempt to check how much weight it could stand. It was almost completely healed.

He shook Chrom softly and wishpered his name, trying to wake him up. That position couldn't be comfortable. The prince groaned, sleepy, and tried to hid his face against the bed even better to avoid waking up. Then he suddenly sat up and looked worried around him. Robin jolted, not expecting the sudden change on him, and even less that the prince would look at him wide eyed with a mask of worry on his face. Chrom grabed his arms as if wanting to make sure he was there, and that wasn't an illusion or a dream.

"Chrom, I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt." The tactician tried to reassure him, guessing he was worried about him.

Chrom let go a shaking breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and freed Robin's arms. "You were unconscious for a day and half. There was a lot of blood..."

Robin bit his cheek, feling guilty for worrying him so much, even if it wasn't actually his fault. The assasin had been so silent he hadn't heard anything until Chrom yelled.

The he noticed the tired look on Chrom's face, and some dark marks under his eyes that seem suspiciously like bags, how his hair was messy and dishevelled.

"You should go to sleep." Robin whispered, staring at him with worry, getting a bit closer so he could hear better.

He didn't want to break the calm atmosphere that had settled under the warmth of the small fire. Chrom frowned a little, still somewhat worried about Robin's state, and not wanting to leave yet. Robin chuckled softly at his reaction, and felt the sudden impulse of stroking his cheeks in an attempt to comfort him. He didn't.

When he was going to move his arm, he realized it was resting on Chroms shoulder, despite him not remembering why or when he had put it there. In an instant he became extremely aware of the fact that one of Chrom's arms was around his waist while the other one was still grabbing his hand. He was so close to his face he could see his pupils despite the darkness. Dilated. Alert.

The air in the room changed within a second, full of static. One wrong move, and everything would explode. Robin was barely conscious of his own heart hammering against chest, unable to look anywhere that weren't those dark eyes.

Chrom kissed him first.

He pressed his lips softly but firmly against Robin's. The tactician kissed the prince back, having trouble believing what was happening. Chrom was a great leader, kind, and so stupidly handsome he had fallen for him faster than he had realized. It was embarrassing for the tactician to admit that he had thought of the blue haired man on solitary nights more than once, yelling his name onto the pillow. But he also remembered others where he walked around camp and heard his own name being softly whispered from Chrom's tent, and how he was always a bit bashful the next morning. It looked like Robin wasn't the only one having fantasies about his best friend.

Robin slid his tongue inside Chroms mouth, firmly grabbing his face. The prince hugged his waist and pulled closer, and the tactician noticed how hard Chrom was already.

Chrom slid his hands under his white shirt and softly explored his body. If he was surprised when he fiscovered the tactician had breasts, he didn't show it. Robin wondered for a second if he hadn't hid himself has well as he thought, but the friction againts his nipples proved to be more important at the moment. He did the same to Chrom, softly touching his muscular torso, while also pressing his crotch agains the prince's. Robin smiled when that earned him a gasp and a moan. The tactician got rid of both of their shirts and hugged Chrom, pressing again against his crotch. Chrom groaned in pleasure, but to Robins surprise he didn't do much more than stroking his back.

"Fine?" He asked, a bit worried.

"Yes." Chrom answered. His voice was rasp, full of desire, but also a bit timid. Something in Robins head clicked. Maybe...

He started kissing Chroms neck, and the prince exhaled a shaking breath of pleasure. Robin kept going down while Chrom started panting softly. Then the tactician slowly pushed him until onto the bed until he was lying on his back and Robin siting on him. Chrom didn't try to resist in any way, closing his eyes and letting his arms fall at each side of his head. Robin stroke his chest again, watching his reaction with curiosity.

So the commander liked taking a break on leading duties while he was in bed, huh? Fine by the tactician.

He stroke Chrom's member thought the fabric, softly at first but more firmly as the prince showed a very positive reaction, moaning and squirming against his touch. He got harder as well. The tactician took out his pants and grabbed him firmly, softly stroking the tip with his thumb. The noises coming from Chrom's throat were wonderful.

"Please..." The prince begged between moans, eyes shut hard. His body was too warm and already covered in sweat.

"Yes?"

"Please..." He insisted, eloquently.

Robin had to swallow a giggle. Such a submissive Chrom was nothing like he had imagined, but it had been so unexpected he found it really funny. He didn't want to laugh at him, however, knowing the prince wouldn't apreciate someone making fun of his preferences. It was rude.

"Chrom, I can't know what you want me to do unless you speak" That wasn't going to stop him from teasing him, though.

Chrom groaned, frustrated, and shoved his hip upwards to make it clear.

"You should have said it!" The tactician had to bit his lip to hold a laughter when Chrom glared at him, his face so red Robin wondered how he hadn't suffered a stroke already "But it's not fair if you're the only one having fun..."

Robin stroke Chroms cheek with a smile. Then he got rid of his own pants. They were wetter than he had expected.

Robin got his crotch closer to Chroms face.

"Show me what you can do with that tongue." He ordered.

He hadn't planned to be so forceful, but Chrom simply closed his eyes and complied, sticking out his tongue and running though his labia as if it was ambrossia. Robin grabbed the bed headboard and swallowed hard. Chrom being so submissive was such a fucking turn on the tactician was having trouble controlling himself. And that tongue between his tights clearly knew what it was doing, and it was doing it amazingly. Robin briefly wondered how many times he had gone to a brothel, and if the nature of the prince made him the gossip of the place for a while.

Robin got up suddenly, realizing he was closer than he thought. But he didn't want to come yet, not like that. He kissed Chrom on his mouth, grabbing his hair and forcefully sliding his tongue onto his mouth, his desire slowly taking control when the prince reacted as enthusiasticaly as him.

"Chrom." Robin groaned, his voice wonderfully deep with desire "Chrom, Chrom, do you want me to fuck you, Chrom? Do you want me to fuck you senseless, Chrom?"

"Yes!" The prince moaned almost instantly, his member twitching in anticipation.

Robin smiled against his skin, and softly kissed him on his lips. Then he moved away from Chroms head and carefully grabbed the hard member.

Chrom had to press firmly his lips and grabed the sheets to avoid yelling when he found himself sorrounded by a warm wetness that was so _easy_ to slide in.

"You're so fucking perfect." He heard Robin's breathless remark right before he began to move slowly up and down and the prince's thoughts scattered in the pleasure.

Robin tried to go slow at first, in case one of them wasn't comfortable; but Chroms hips moving up at the perfect time combined with his own eagerness showed him that both of them wanted more, and fast. They were panting and gasping for air in a matter of minutes, moaning each others names as if they were praying, Robin practically impaling himself over an over on Chroms cock, moving on a frenzy thanks to the pleasure of the fast friction between their bodies.

Robin looked at Chroms body under him. His muscular torso was covered in sweat and there was tension on his arms from grabbing the sheets hard while the tactician kept riding him. His face was comtorted in pleasure, eyes closed and lips opened, breathing fast. He was hot, hot, so hot, so gentle, so kind, so perfect Robin couldn't help but wonder what had he done to deserve him, to deserve that moment. He was sure that he'd do anything to get him into such desperate yet pleased state again. He was sure he wasn't thinking properly anymore, either.

Chrom got suddenly tense and gasped hard. Robin instinctively threw himself on him and covered his mouth with his hands. Chroms yells was muffled while he shot his orgasm inside the tactician. Robin had more trouble masking his moan. He had been hurt and people probably knew Chrom was taking care of him, so if someone heard them yelling, they could get unwanted guests. That and he was fairly sure the door _wasn't_ locked.

Robin felt Chrom move under him, still breathing hard but starting to recover. Robin swallowed.

"Chrom..." He panted "I... still..."

He gritted his teeth. Chroms dick was still inside of him and everything was hot and thinking was really hard. But the prince seemed to understand despite his clouded state, and moved a hand to start strocking Robin's clit.

He shivered at the contact and realized he was closer than he had thought, clawing his nails at the prince torso and yelling agains the pillow in minutes. He slumped, exhausted, on his body, gasping for air.

The tactician didn't seem uncomfortable, so Chrom waited a little while hugging him and leaning his face against the white hair. Then he slid a hand towards Robin's stomach and raised his body a little. Chrom's member slid out easily, earning him a soft groan from the tactician in slight protest. The prince stroked softly the white hair, still hugging the tactician, eyes closed. He didn't want the moment to end, to go back to his normal life while pretending nothing had happened or worse, starting to act uncomfortable around each other.

"Chrom." Robins soft whisper snapped him back to reality. The tactician was staring at him, but he also looked relaxed. The most relaxed he had ever seeing him, in fact.

Once Robin realized he had Chom's attention, he smiled warmly at him, got closer to his face, and kissed him.

Chrom didn't know if that kiss lasted seconds or hours; but he knew Robin was pouring all his feelings onto it, and that he was answering him equally. It would be fine. Everything was fine.

Chrom fell asleep with his arms around the nice weight on his chest and feeling soft kisses on his neck.

* * *

Robin woke up due to the light that entered the room. He complained with a groan, despite knowing the sun wouldn't stop rising because of him. He tried to hid his face from the light by sinking it into the pillow, only to discover said pillow it was made of flesh and had the curious shape of someone's neck and shoulder. It also breathed.

Robin raised his head with a small frown of confusion. Chrom was there, naked and sleeping like a log. Wait, what?

Oh, right. He remembered. Last night Robin had ridden him like it was the end of the world.

Wait, correction. Last night, Chrom had practicaly begged Robin to ride him like it was the end of the world.

It had been amazing.

The tactician would have closed his eyes and rested his head against the sleeping prince again, but he had the nagging feeling he was forgetting something. Something important.

He tried to get up, but Chrom's unconscious body reacted by hugging him tighter, nuzzling against his hair and mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like "five more minutes".

Robin sighted and shook Chrom a little.

"Chrom, wake up, come on."

The tactician saw the bandages on his shoulder with the corner of his eye. He had been hurt by a risen and that was why Chrom had been on the room with him, he remembered then. And given his body's... secret, Lissa was the only one that took care of him when he got hurt. And to make sure no one was around when checking on him, she always came to see him first thing in the morning.

Robins eyes got wide and he started shaking Chrom more vigorously.

"Chrom, wake up! Wake up!"

The prince did, looking everywhere for danger, disoriented at the urgency of the voice he was hearing up but seeing no apparent threat.

The door of the room opened loudly and they heard a yawn.

"Morning, Robin." Lissa said in a sleepy tone "How are you feel—?"

Her voice dropped when she saw her brother entangled in bed with her patient, barely covered by the bedsheets until the waist, except for one of his legs. Every unhidden bodypart was suspiciously devoid of clothing.

Robin was glad he had his back facing the door and didn't have to see Lissa's expression because Chrom's face was acquiring a strong shade of red that was, frankly, amazing.

"Chrom, he's... hurt!" Lissa yelled the first thing she could think of.

"OUT!" He brother roared, dying of embarrassment.

"Half an hour, please!" Robin said, still without facing her "I need a bath."

"I don't want to know!" The door closed and everything went quiet.

Robin sighted and got up. He still was quite embarassed, but the rest of the Shepherds would get up soon. The longer they took, the more suspicious everything would be. He got to Chrom's side and got him up, guiding him to the bathroom while grabbing his hand.

"Come on, Chrom. Let's take a bath."

"I can't believe this happened!" He replied, still mortified.

"Yeah, we can agree on that."

The wooden bathtub was already full of cold water, and no doubt Lissa had had something to do with it. She had probably asked to fill it when she had finished healing him after arriving at the wall. Robin made sure the water was clean, and he heated it with magic before entering himself.

"Gods! Do you scald youself everytime you bath?!" Chrom groaned when he got in the water.

The tactician looked at the water and then at his not-so-comfortable companion.

"Yes?"

"This can't be healthy!"

"I hate cold water! And it's relaxing! If I bath at night I usually make it even hotter!"

Chrom looked at him horrified. Robin rolled his eyes and threw him a soap bar.

"Come on, breakfast is waiting. And Lissa is, too."

Chrom got red of embarrassement again, but he started cleaning himself without saying anything.

* * *

Lissa examined the wound with critical eyes. There was a red mark next to Robin's neck that went though his shoulder until the base of his arm. Despite having been a deep cut, it had almost healed in a couple of days. It probably woudn't even scar.

"It's almost gone already." It was Lissa's conclussion. Then she looked at him, puzzled "You heal quite fast."

Robin shrugged and dressed again. But his mind reminded him of one time, when he was a child, that he had gotten many wounds with other children while playing, and he had been the first one to recover. They had been jealous of him, but they also had admired him. When he had told it to his mother, she had smiled softly. But her eyes showed a strange sadness and fear he couldn't place. They moved to another village the next day.

The awkward silence in the room brought Robin back to the present. Lissa didn't have anything else to say. Or she did, but didn't know how to. Chrom, who had stayed there because he didn't know what else to do, talked first.

"You could have knocked." He complained.

"I'm sorry!" His sister apologized for the fourth time "How was I supposed to know?!"

"You weren't." Robin admited _. Nor did we until until we were already half naked_.

"Exactly!" She complained. Robin felt a bit bad for her. She was more embarrassed than angry or anything.

Lissa got up and walked to the door "I'll leave now. Don't take too long." She advised them.

"Don't tell anyone!" Chrom's voice was almost begging.

"I know, don't worry." She assured him, and left.

Robin got up and streched. "Let's go. I'm quite hungry"

"Maybe we should go separated." Chrom suggested, not wanting to deal with jokes about arriving late and at the same time as Robin that would be spot on. Robin humed in agreement.

Chrom was about to ask who should go first when Robin slid an arm around his waist and got their faces close. The prince was half a head taller than him, so the tactician's lips were at the perfect height to brush against his neck. Chrom could feel Robin's gloved thumb sliding against his throat and his own heart hammering against his chest.

"Don't worry," The shorter man purred, sending shivers though Chrom's back "I'll eat you properly next time."

The sudden sound of the door closing snaped Chrom back to reality, only to realize he was already alone in the room.

Chrom sighted. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

So, the importat parts: Chrom discoveres Robin is trans, but doesn't care. Lissa is Robin's personal healer to keep it a secret. The next morning she also discovered by accident they had banged. Woops.

Also, fun fact! This is actually the first thing I wrote for the fic!

And sub!Chrom. Yup.


	4. Chapter 4

Robin didn't like the desert.

It was hard to walk on the sand, and the horses and the convoys were even slower. The merciless sun was shining upon them, and there wasn't a single cloud that could provide them some shadow and relief. Wasting one wind tome on providing some fresh air for the troops was becomeing increasingly tempting.

Emmeryn's execution was only two weeks away, and it was taking them far longer than Robin had planed to get there. He hadn't dare to send pegasus for faster scouting, fearing archers would take advantage of the clear sky and would shoot them easily. Slow reports from the ground were the only thing they had.

No, Robin definitely didn't like the desert.

A couple of Feroxian scouts arrived and Robin joined Frederick and Chrom to hear the report. There was a group of people not far from where they were. An armed group of people. It wasn't good news, but they were the first obstacle they had found in enemy territory since they crossed the border to Plegia. Something was going on but they didn't know what, and their nerves were starting to get to them. At least that was some change from the uncertainity they had been building up.

The Shepherds got ready to battle and Robin planned a simple strategy that prioritized those with good movement on the sand so they could serve as a distraction for the enemies while the rest advanced through the easiest paths they could find.

A little further, they saw a village and gigant fragments of vertebrae scatered on the sand. The smallest bones were as big as a horse. Robin felt on edge looking at them. It was eerie. What kind of monster was big enough to leave bones that size?

They got closer to the potential bandits and Robin quickly forgot the bones to stare at the leader of the group, as well as those that were close to him. They looked mostly like other black mages Robin had found on their missions along Ylisse, but their clothes had several eye-like shapes on the capes; and there were always six.

 _The crunch of the snow was fast and frantic. His mother was grabbing his hand while they run to try to keep up with his speed, but the steps that followed them were getting closer. She was already tired, and he didn't have a lot of energy left either. The wistle of an arrow was heard close and the piece of wood got stuck on a close trunk. Robin clenched his teeth and looked around, desperate. There was nothing but trees, snow and a furious river within more than a day of travel; and even if they found a village, it was unlikely they would provide them refugee from their pursuers. People so far up north had enought difficulties surviving as it was; they didn't like unncessary trouble._

 _His mother yelled and fell to the ground. Robin stopped running and crouched next to her. An arrow was standing out from her leg. She wouldn't be able to run. Robin helped her get up, listening to the steps that were coming closer. His heart was hammering in his chest and he franticaly tried to think of what to do. If he carried her on his back, they wouldn't be fast enough to flee. But he couldn't abandoned her, she was the only person he had ever had in his life! She stared at him, with fear and despair; the same expression he was probably having at the moment._

 _The pursuers got so close they could hear the metal on their clothes clinking. His mother's eyes changed, and her dark skinned face suddenly became full with determination. She grabbed his hand tightly for a second and kissed Robin's forehead through the cloth of her scarf. She pushed him into the river before he coud react._

 _The freezing water clawed at his body, the temperature change being so sudden he didn't even manage to yell in surprise, petrified by the shock instead. The furious water had dragged him several yards when the pursuers, all of them wearing purple capes with eye-shaped details, got to her mother and stabbed her mercilessly. Her yells of pain were the last thing Robin heard before the river turned and left him invisible to his pursuers, and the coldness of the water stole him his consciousnes._

They were the people that had been following his whole life and ultimately ended his mother's life. They were Grimleal.

The shock of the memory that returned to his brain made his legs tremble and left him breathless. He stared down at the sand, trying to hold himself together. But his hands were clearly shaking and he could feel tears forming on his eyes. He was starting to pant as wave of hot fury threatened to crash over him, stealing him of any reason and leaving only anger and bloodthirst; an excuse for revenge.

Those bastards had killed her! Killed the only person he had ever had! Killed her, killed her killed her! And they would pay!

He suddenly felt Chrom's hand strongly grabbing his arm and saw his serious and concerned face when he looked up, startled.

"What's wrong?" He muttered, not wanting to alert the rest of the army.

So much for trying to hide how upset he was. He breathed slowly, trying to clear his mind. They were in Plegia to save Emmeryn from being executed by a madman. He couldn't afford to lose it there; the Shepherds needed him. Chrom needed him.

"I remembered something…" Robin answered, not without effort. "Something… bad. But I'll be fine… we have work."

 _Focus. Focus. Focus! You have to save Emmeryn._ He tried to ignore what he had remebered. It wasn't the right time to dwell on that.

Chrom was going to protest, but before he could, the tactian straightened up and started barking orders at the rest of the Shepherds, telling them to follow the plan they had revised with a couple of adjustments.

They defeated the Grimleal and crossed that part of the desert quite fast, particularly thanks to the help of the mercenary and the dragon girl that appeared out of nowhere and decided to join them, one for the money and the other one because she had nowhere else to go. Robin didn't complain about letting a dragon join their ranks. Her strengh was more than welcomed.

Chrom and him got further than the rest of the army and took on the leader. The dark mage wasn't happy to see the purple clothing Robin was wearing, and started to shout the moment he got closer.

" _You, Ylissean dog! How dare you wearing the clothes reseved for the High Hierophant of our Lord Grima?! I will not tolerate such a heresy! Die!_ "

Robin barely had time to blink before another memory assaulted him. He knew the High Hierophant of the Grimleals. He had found him, once…

 _The chase had slowed down after his mother's death, but it hadn't stopped. Another year of hiding and running through the frozen lands of Regna Ferox had passed and Robin was tired and bitter about his life. About not having a moment of rest. About having what seemed an entire country on his back for no known reason. About having lost everything he had._

 _He was done. And he was angry._

 _He had discovered that in that ocasion the High Hierophant himself, the strongest Grimleal of the cult, was leading the chase. Robin pretended to flee while leading them to a frozen and steep mountaing range covered in mist. He activated a trap he had set beforehand, throwing giant rocks that hit them, and made them fall though a cliff. Many of them died instantly._

 _Robin coldly watched it from a safe place until the rocks stopped falling. He got down thanks to a rope he had hidden close and went to examine the Grimleals. He killed the few survivors without hesitation. Then he got to the High Hierophant and took his robes._

 _A trophy for killing one of the strongest mages in Plegia._

 _A warning to everyone that tried to pursue him._

 _Grimleal hunters dropped after that, and he barely found any other for the nine months that had followed. His idea seemed to have worked, even if the price for it was being unable to wander into most human settlements, knowing his clothing wouldn't be welcomed. He didn't mind it too much. He was used to be alone._

 _Until on day he lost both his conciousness and memory wandering through a field south Ylisse._

He had killed him without second thoughts.

Robin gulped and stared at a nearby plant, trying his best to overcome the feelings of misery, loneliness and anger that came with the memory. He didn't bothered answering the Grimleal, shooting him with his magic and letting Chrom finish the job. Robin simply stared at him, grabbing his magic tome with such a strenght he was sure his knuckles were white under his gloves.

He felt Chrom softly grabbing his arm and found his worried expression staring at him.

"Are you fine? What did he say?"

Robin pressed his lips and looked away. The fury was starting to become overwhelming and he found himself thinking about cutting that corpse into little pieces. He stopped his thoughts at that moment, horrified about it. What the hell was he thinking?

Robin forced himself to stop staring at the body and instead looked at the army. The Shepherds had finished fighting and were regrouping and getting closer to them.

"Just some madness about his cult. Nothing important." Robin replied, and started walking away from that place without waiting for his answer.

It wasn't tecnically a lie.

* * *

This took longer than I wanted, sorry! I'm having a lot more work than I expected.


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing Robin saw when aproaching the Plegian capital was the skull, so big it could fit a city under it. The tactician did, in fact, see several buildings lying under the bones, using it as a roof, as if it was a cave. Now he knew what those bones he had found before in the desert had belong to.

The knowledge did nothing to calm down the indescribable terror the vision gave him, or to stop the scratching sensation on his arms that had started when they got closer to them to hear Gangrel talk. It was completely unnatural and Robin was absolutely sure he should _not_ be there. Not then, not ever.

The tactician clenched his teeth and fought to supress his instinct yelling him to leave. They were there to save Emmeryn and they wouldn't leave without her. He waited for the right moment and ordered Flavia to kill the executioner. Everyone else started advancing though the scorching sand, fighting against Gangrel's troups.

An Ylissean monk arrived after a while and helped them, and Robin saw Chrom convice a Plegian mage to join them. The tactician had to swallow his protests of how dangerous she could be, remembering what had happened the last time they had found mages in the desert; remembering the tiny flashes of memories that had asaulted him before; and simply hoped the Plegian didn't backstab them. Fortunately, she seemed happy enough with the promise of leaving that place alive.

The Shepherds crossed the sand and arrived at the courtyard. Robin shot magic to the general, and Chrom finished him with his rapier. Then he yelled the order to Phila. The pegasi appeared, ready to rescue the Exalt no matter what.

Robin suddenly stopped advancing, his vision blurry and eyes unfocused. An awful shiver stroke him and made his hair stand on end. He had felt something similar before, some strange discomfort whenever they had a skirmish against the risen, but nothing as strong as then. Chrom stopped next to him with a worried expression, and asked him what happened. But the tactician was unable to answer before the undead archers appeared in front of his eyes.

They shot the pegasi to death and everything went wrong.

Robin started to think frantically, trying to find a way to save Emmeryn, to not give up the Fire Emblem, to _do_ something. Something that stopped Chrom from making a choice, knowing full well the moment they would put away their weapons they would be dead. In the end, Emmeryn chose for them.

It felt strange watching her fall. Like time had slowed down so much it seemed she would never actually hit the ground, as if the moment would strech forever to make sure the Exalt wouldn't die.

 _The knives had taken ages to sink on his mother's body while the cold water surrounding him made verything numb, as if they would never actually killed her completely._

Basilio's yell managed to bring Robin back to reality. Chrom was gone, knelt next to his sister's body. Robin repressed his memories and feelings and concentrated on the hard stone, the merciless sun, the suffocating heat. They had lost and they had to _leave, leave, leave!_. He started running towards Chrom even before he realized it, grabbed his arm and forced him to get up and flee with the rest. The prince protested, wanting to retrive his sister's body. But if they were to leave alive, they had to run withouth wasting time. The tactician grabbed his hand harder and forced him to follow him while the army retreated.

Robin gave orders while they run, making sure everyone would be protected while they fled, still holding Chrom's hand. Everything felt unreal, as if he was having a nightmare he could wake up from at any second. His hands were shaking slightly and his breath and heart rate were faster than they should be. He had the feeling he was in shock, but a quick glance at Chrom's expression at his side told him he was barely even _there_. Even Frederick looked lost, like he was expecting orders from him. He had no option but to pull himself together and taking over the Shepherds untily they were safe.

The giant ribs with actual forts on them were yet another reminder ot the unnatural thing that laid dead in the desertic country. However, the ambush seemed to revive Chrom a little, if only to turn him into a swirl of fury that cut down everything on his path. Robin stayed closed to make sure he would be safe. Once they crossed the fortress where the Plegian commander stood, a woman with pink hair appeared and showed them a safe route. They managed to get to the Feroxian border after two days of march almost without rest.

* * *

The wall that protected the Feroxian country welcomed the hurt and tired soldiers. Flavia and Basilio made sure they all received proper treatement and had a place to rest. Robin and Frederick took charge, and divided the essential tasks task between themselves. They checked the Shepherds would be healed; letting Chrom and Lissa grieve in privacy and without pressure. Robin wasn't badly hurt, so he refused the Feroxian healer's help to close his wounds. He went on a round through half the Shepherds rooms to make sure everything was under control.

Maribelle threatened to hit him with her umbrella if he didn't rest too. He could hardly walk without his legs shaking and screaming for rest. He promised he would once he talked with Frederick.

Once he got to his asigned room half an hour later, the stars and the moon were shining on the sky. He was barely able to get his boots off before he fell unconscious on the bed. He didn't even remember to eat something.

* * *

When Robin opened his eyes, his body felt terribly sore and heavy. The clothes he had gone to sleep with clinged to his body in weird angles, due to him tossing around on his sleep. The bandages on his chest hurt. In his drozsy state, he wondered why exactly he had slept with them, before realizing there was an arm around his chest. Chrom was sleeping next to him, half of his face hidden on the crook of Robin's neck.

Robin's first thought was how peaceful he looked, his dark eyelashes contrasting agains his pale skin and his thin lips closed, but relaxed.

Robin's second thought was about how exhausted he had to had been for someone to enter his room and lay next to him without the tactician waking up at all. He was a light sleeper than suffered of insomnia more often than not.

Robin's third thought was wondering what had happened for him to be that tired. The memories of the last few days came crashing into his mind.

Emmeryn had been captured by Plegia. They had marched there to rescue her. The pegasi were dead. His mother was dead. Emmeryn was dead. Dead. They had failed. He had failed. Failed.

Gods, he had failed.

He bit his hand to stop himself from crying loudly, feeling the tears forming on his eyes, and not wanting to wake up Chrom. The taste of the leather told him he had forgotten to take his gloves out last night, but he didn't care at the moment. He was a failure, a failure, a failure. So useless he couldn't even do the one thing that army wanted from him. He should have never accepted to stay; he clearly had nothing to offer and they had survive perfectly without him before he arrived.

And why was he even crying? It was Chrom the one that had just lost his family, the one that was mourning the loss of the kindest sister the world woud ever meet. He was the one to be crying, not the tactician. And the Plegian man was sure that if the prince was to wake up at that moment, he would try to comfort him regardless of his own state. Robin felt pathetic, pathetic, so fucking pathetic. He should leave instead of constantly bother Chrom.

His fears came true when he saw the prince stirring next to him, waking up. Robin stopped biting his glove and looked away, praying he wouldn't notice how tense he was. It was, of course, impossible. Once Chrom's brain fully woke up and his expression turned into grief, he looked up to check on Robin to discover he could only see a very tense jaw and white hair. He furrowed his eyebrows when he saw that.

"What's wrong?" His voice sounded to soft, too gentle in Robin's ears.

"Nothing!" He replied. Too fast, too high pitched, too strangled.

Chrom sit to get a better look at his face and realized the tactician was avoiding looking at his face. The tactician panicked more when he realized his intentions and tried to avoid his eyes. Chrom frowned.

"Robin, what's wro-?"

"Stop!" The command was sharp like a cut, but full of sadness. "Stop! Just stop! It's you the one who just lost someone close, the one _I_ should be conforting; but it turns out I can't do something as simple as that! Not only can't save people as it is my job to do, but I also can't even make up for it!"

"What are you talking about?" Chrom replied, sitting up, unable to believe what he was hearing. "You've saved up dozens of times! You're a person, not a god. You did you're best and I'm grateful. I would have never managed to plan somet-"

"So what?!" Robin sat, unable to control his frustration and starting to yell. "None of that matters if I fail at the worst possible moment! If I fail to save the most important person I have to save! If the only thing I can do is lose people figthing!"

Chrom realized Robin was too unsettled to process anything he said unless he managed to calm down, so he repressed his yells as best as he could and tried to speak softly. He was proud to realize his voice was just a bit louder than usual.

"So the other times when you did don't matter? When you saved Vaike and Sumia from the risen at the northen road? When you saved Ricken and Maribelle in the ambush at the pass? When you saved Lissa from the bandits on Regna Ferox? When you made sure that Donnel would be able to help us fight saving his village while not putting him in danger so he could get confidence and join us? When Gaius almost fell of a cliff and you sent Cordelia to save him while the rest distracted the archers? When you predicted how the bandits at the fortress would react and prevented Stahl and Sully from getting killed?"

Robin felt silent at the number of successes Chrom was listing. They didn't feel nearly as important as this failure for some reason, but Chrom's voice tone told him anything he tried to say to retort it would fell flat. So he just stared at his lap without talking. Chrom felt silent as well, not knowing what else to say, or perhaps having said everything he wanted.

"I remembered how I lost my mother." The tactician quietly broke the silence after a while.

He wanted to punch himself in the face right after it. Chrom was grieving the _recent_ loss of his sister. Turning this into a competition of who was suffering more wouldn't help him. And that happened years ago, it didn't matter anymore!

"I'm sorry." Chrom mumbled, which only made Robin feel worse.

He was going to say it didn't matter anymore when he felt Chrom's hand softly cleaning the tears on his face. He was crying again. He gave up pretending and hugged Chrom, who responded eagerly and tightly enought to hurt him a little. When the tactician heard his lover starting to cry, he realized everything since he woke up had been stupid and what he should have done was hugging Chrom and let both of them cry until they didn't have tears left.

They kept huging even after they had calmed down, eyes closed and silently listening the other breath, the other's heart beat until the rhythm returned to normal.

Robin spoke again, his voice firm and determined.

"We will stop Gangrel."

Chrom answered with the same conviction.

"Yes."

* * *

Sorry for the wait! I was busy with another fic and exams and life in general. This will probably go a little slower than I wanted, but I won't abandon it! I'm afraid the next chapter will probably take a little, but I hope it's worth the wait.

And happy new year! I hope this holidays were great for all of you!


	6. Chapter 6

Robin supressed the need to yell and hit something. Asking Tharja for help preparing the tactics for the following battle seemed to have been a mistake.

Once back in Regna Ferox, they took a few days to recover and rest before planning their next move. Both the Khans and Chrom wanted to go back to Ylisse recapture the capital. They wanted to encourage anyone willing to join them in a final assault against Plegia to avenge their Exalt and finish the war.

Robin had refused. They had suffered a great loss and were weak. A retreat would have been the best tactical decision in other circumstances. But in their situation, Plegian spies would be everywhere. They couldn't go back to Ylisse without risking fighting numerous skirmishes with the Plegians, as well as the risen. It could be a great cost of resources and time, not to mention how difficult it would be to recover the lost capital. Besides, it would give time to the Plegians to recover after their losses at the attack on their own capital.

"Then what do you suggest we do exactly?!" Chrom didn't bother to hide his frustration and impatience.

Robin stared traight into his eyes in the meeting. "We go straight for Gangrel and kill him. Without him, the army will demoralize and surrender as fast as possible. We will finish the war in one battle."

Basilio frowned. He didn't like it. "And we risk everything in one single swoop? If we fail, we'll lose everything!"

"And if we wait they'll become stronger than we can manage." Robin shrugged. "I know exactly how much we are risking, but time is not our ally anymore. We can do it if we prepare this carefully."

No one had liked the suggestion, but they ended up accepting it for a lack of a better option. Robin wanted to make absolutely sure they wouldn't fail this time. He tried to get as much information as possible to try to prevent any problem that could appear.

For that purpose, he had asked Tharja for help. The Plegian mage had been a soldier as well. He knew it was risky to trust a Plegian like her after such a recent defeat. But Robin was also painfully aware of how easy would have been for her to cause real trouble while they were recovering. If she had wanted to hurt someone, she already would have. Robin didn't have a good reason to not ask her for help when she could have such useful information.

Except he was already regretting it. The Plegina mage hadn't done much more than purr generic answers and tried to rub against his arm. Robin had already noticed the mage was quite creepy, but her strange obsession with him was beyond unnerving. He was losing his patience.

"Has someone told you you have the subtlety of a starving grizzl- in front of fish?" He groaned, freeing his arm from her hug.

She chuckled in a way that sounded a lot darker that Robin had ever heard. "Do you like it?" She asked with feign innocence.

Robin gave her a cold smile. "I hate it. And the more you do it, the more I want to put you in a carriage to the other side of the continent and never see you again."

Tharja seem to flater a litte, but quickly smiled again and opened her mouth. Robin was faster.

"I'm not interested in you." He declared. "And given what I've seen , I'm pretty sure I'll never be. So drop this, it's a waste of time. If this, and surviving, were the only reasons you joined us, I strongly suggest you leave. We have a lot on our hands, and the last thing we need is to babysit a Plegian mage."

She glared at him when she heard that, which surprised him a little. "I don't need a babysitter. I'm as good as any of your mages."

"Then prove it without the promise of getting in my bed if you do. Or without threatening to hex everyone unless I do what you want. At this moment, you're only a big annoyance."

She looked like she wasn't sure if she wanted to keep flirting to appease him or trying to hex him to do what she wanted.

"I have the information you need." She remined him.

"And I have plenty of sources. You're just the fastest and most convenient one." He declared.

Tharja stared in silence. She neither threatened or cooed him. Robin thought it was the first time he saw her seriously considering something in front of him. She frowned.

"So he doesn't mind?" She asked.

Robin felt lost. "What?"

"The prince. About your body."

Wait, what? How did she know…? No, no, rewind that. She was a dark mage. Robin _didn't_ want to know how she knew.

"No." He answered as firmly as possible. He didn't like knowing someone else knew of his relationship with Chrom. The more people knew, the riskier it would be. And she had just joined them… She could be dangerous.

But instead of trying to blackmail him with information aristocracy wouldn't like to know, she groaned and pressed her lips. She let her soulders lower, as if she was admiting defeat. "Surprising for an Ylissean." She mumbled.

Then she looked back at the tactician. "Fine, I won't tell your little nobles." She informed. "The Plegian army is used to fight in the sand, but walking around it is still too hard to be confortable. They will want to fight at the northern side, which has a steadier soil and is also closer to our current possition…"

And she inmediately started to say everything she knew of the Plegian army. Robin had to run to grab paper and a quill while mumbling a thanks and trying to frantically copy everything she was saying.

* * *

Every preparation for the battle had been finished. The Ylissean army was close to the field the battle would take place when Robin recieved strange news: Plegians were deserting en masse. The tactician needed a few seconds to understand what he had heard. That could make things so much safer and easier he was afraid to believe the news. Chrom seemed to instantly realize what was happening; what Emmeryn had been trying to tell him the whole time. Robin could do nothing but agree with him.

The tactician had known Chrom wouldn't be willing to be placed in a safe place that would be afar from Gangrel. The prince felt it was his duty to do what Emmeryn couldn't; he had to slay the Mad King and put an end to that war. Robin didn't disagree, but would have been happier if he could have stayed in a safer place. So he did the next best thing, and put Frederick and Stahl close to him, followed by Nowi, Lissa and the new girl, Olivia. The tactician himself would be next to Chrom, giving him as much support has he could need. The rest of the army had to cause as much chaos and distractions as possible while they advanced through Gangrel's troups. They had to make sure the enemy wouldn't focus on Chrom.

It turned out they didn't even need to advance, and Gangrel went straight for Chrom the moment he located him. He delivered his blows with an incredible speed that the prince had trouble blocking with the Falchion. The electricity of the levin sword made things worse, stunning Chrom and making his movements slower. It didn't hurt much, but the loss of agility could be lethal. Robin opened his book and threw flames at the king. The trickster avoided them with ease as well, but the glare he threw at the tactician told them he hadn't liked the interruption. Chrom took a few seconds to recover, and threw himself again at Gangrel. This time, he knew what to expect from the weapon. Grangrel had to retreat a few steps to recover his balance from the assault. But once he did, his speed and his electric sword threatened to give him the upper side of the battle again. Robin intervened again, throwing more fire to distract the king. Gangrel glared at the tactician as if he was considering killing him first to stop an annoyance. But Chrom threw himself again at full force, forcing the king to keep his attention on the prince. More hits, more fire and more hits again. And finally Chrom saw his chance, and striked Gangrel on his abdomen. Gangrel yelled and let his sword fall while Chrom finished him off.

Chrom and Robin stood there, panting, staring at the corpse with a growing pool of blood under him. They realized the fight continued around them. Chrom tried to yell, but his shouts got lost in the frenzy of the battle. Robin had an idea. He took the levin sword, raised it and used his magic to throw a lightning towards the skies. The sudden light made everything around them stop and stare at them. Robin lowered the sword and nodded at Chrom.

"Plegians!" Chrom shouted, standing firmly under the watchful eyes of everyone around him. "The Mad King is dead! You have lost, but every soldier that surrenders will be spared and treated with respect!" He promised them.

Some Plegians fled while others threw their weapons to the ground in surrender. The promise was kept and no Plegina was hurt. The Ylisseans had won the battle, and finished the war.

Chrom had thought he would have been happier about it.

* * *

The surrendering conditions Ylisse demanded from the Plegian country weren't many, but they were strict. It was explicitly stated they had to send Emmeryn's corpse back to her country. And yet, the only thing that reached the castle two weeks after the battle was a letter and a medium sized chest. The letter was a formal apology to the royal family. No one had been able to find the body. It didn't matter how much anyone searched around the Plegian castle courtyard, through the castle itself, or even the capital. It had been imposible to find, and therefore, impossible to return to the Ylisseans. As a compensation and proof of their goodwill, Plegia sent them an extra chest filled with gold and jewels to the castle.

Chrom had been furious. He tore the paper into pieces and stormed off the room with Frederick and Robin following him. He didn't want a piece of paper and some stupid coins. He wanted his sister back to be able to bid her farewell properly. Chrom had yelled they were lying and only wanted to desecrate her sister even more. But Robin remembered the chaotic state of the courtyard the day they went to save her. He was willing to believe they had actually lost her, even if the perspective made him angry as well.

Both Frederick and Robin followed him outside the room, but the tactician hesitated. Frederick was supposed to be much closer to Chrom, and would be the better option to comfort the prince. He sighted internally, and nodded at the knight. Frederick nodded back and kept following Chrom at a careful distance.

Robin took a deep breath, trying to convince himself it was the best option. He could go later, once Chrom had calmed down a little more. At that moment… corpse or not, there was a funeral to plan for the end of that week. He went downstairs.

* * *

The day of the funeral, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. It was as if the good weather mocked the grief of the people present. Every noble from the Halidom, whether they had helped them fighting in the war or not, had been invited to attend the final farewell to their queen. The doors of the castle were open for the commoners as well. Many came to say their final goodbye to their beloved Exalt. Lissa broke down and started crying almost at the begining. Chrom put an arm around her shoulders, supporting her. He didn't cry, but Robin noticed his fixed stare and his tightened expression. He bit his lips and wished he could hold his hand.

Chrom and Lissa excused themselves right after it finished, and let to the servants the task of entertaining the nobles. Robin slipped away from the crowd, unnoticed. He went to the closest entrance to the secret passages he knew of. The walls of that place were surprisingly laberinthycal. But the layer of dust he found when he discovered them told him no one had known of that hidden side in decades, or even centuries. Since the war was over and they would stay at the castle for longer periods, he was starting to consider cleaning everything a little bit. At least, so he could breath without the help of a handkerchief.

He traveled in silence through the darkness, listening to the sounds that filtered through the stone walls. They were all the reference he needed to know where he was. He walked and went up until everything was quiet, and he only heard the faint steps of the guards walking along him.

He turned left and right and stopped in front of a wall identical to the rest of the wall around him. He touched a couple of stones and the wall moved to the side in silence. He stepped outside and found himself in the living room of Chrom's chamber. It was empty, and a quick glance at the bedroom part confirmed it was empty as well. Chrom wasn't there. Robin frowned, puzzled. Was he with Lissa? But he was sure Maribelle had gone to see her…

Something clicked inside Robin's brain, and he frowned. He got through the secret door again. He traveled through the secret corridors in silence for a couple of minutes. Then he went out. The empty hallway welcomed him, but he knew he had only a few minutes before the guard would pass around there again. He turned right and stood in front of the wooden door of the closest chamber. It had been Emmeryn's chamber. He entered.

The living room was empty, but when Robin got closer to the door of the bedroom he heard a faint sound. He opened the door, sliding in in silence. Chrom was laying on the bed, hugging one of the pillows and crying his eyes out. It broke Robin's heart to see him in such a state.

He got on the bed and sat next to him in silence. He stroke his hair. The touched seemed to startled Chrom, who suddenly opened his eyes and stared at him, startled. Robin gave him a small smile, and lowered to kiss his forehead. Chrom blinked and snifed, the tears didn't let him see much. He let go of the pillow, sat and threw himself into Robin's hands. The tactician hugged him and kissed his hair while he felt him breaking down again after the brief pause.

"She was… amazing…" Chrom declared between sobs.

"Yes…" Robin wishpered in agreement. He kissed his hair and stroke his back, trying his best to confort him.

"Don't leave me…" Chrom's voice broke down at the end of the plea.

"Never." Robin promised.

* * *

 **Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Tharja. I really like her and I think she's a very interesting character... except when she's acting creepy with Robin. Which is something that happens so rarely in most supports except for a few comments out of nowhere I didn't even realice she was obsessed until my 4th run or so. In my opinion, the yandere thing is more OOC than anything else, and I wished they hadn't reinforced that part of her in other games where she appears :/**

 **Also, I'll start writing my final coments bolded so they're less confusing.**


	7. Chapter 7

Two weeks of official mourning were established by the Council. But after the horrors of the war, people needed a distraction, to feel there would be hope for the future. It was decided to host a huge celebration for their victory as well at the end of the official mourning. Chrom had frowned when he heard the decision, but he had to admit they were right. And perhaps Robin would be right too and it would help him feel a little better. So, a huge celebration that lasted a week was prepared.

Every noble from the Halidom was to atend the ceremonies on the first day, and then stay for as many others as they wished, until the end of the week. It was a frantic time where everyone at the castle was busy making sure everything would be ready, rooms would be prepared for the nobles who would stay even longer, the food would be adequate, and entertainment would be provided. It was unlikely that most nobles would stay for the whole week, but Robin groaned thinking about the waste of money. Of course people wanted to celebrate their victory, but seven days was excesive; and while the country wasn't in banckrupty due to the war, the vaults were less full thant the tactician would have liked.

And to make things worse for him personally, the first dinner of the week would be a celebratory meal for Ylisse's victory at the war which every noble and general of the country would attend. And as Chrom's personal tactician, and the one who had harvested victory after victory with minimal casualties, Robin had been formally invited to attend.

The tactician knew he would be little more than an object of curiosity for the nobles, who knew how he had joined the Shepherds after having been picked up from the ground, literally. Going from nobody to master tactician in a matter of months made him quite the oddity, and not few of those nobles owed him the safety of their troops. Robin sighted. He'd much rather spend the night with his friends at the canteen in the barracks than at the castle, not wanting to dress up with pretty but uncomfortable clothes; but he knew better than to displease the aristocracy. At least they had given him clothes and wouldn't have to spend money on them. And Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, Maribelle and Sumia would be there, even if he doubted it would be proper to spend much time with them.

He had been thankfully seated next to a baron that was enthusiastic about his military tactics, and while Robin couldn't talk a lot because the older man was simply unable to shut up, at least he could enjoy the meal and didn't get bored. The verbosity of the nobleman to his left also meant that no one else was able to get into the conversation, which was something else Robin was thankful for. He wasn't the most social person and the baron was unkowingly saving him from many awkward moments with the rest of the guests next to him.

Once the meal was over, everyone moved to the ballroom, where some musicians had already started to play music. Robin quickly grabbed a drink from one of the servants that walked around the place to have an excuse that would save him from having to dance. He also got near the walls and tried to hide from Lissa as much as he could. Better safe from her possible mischief than sorry. He had learnt it the hard way.

The ball was the perfect time to gather information about every importan person involved (which was everyone), so Robin discreetly moved around the place, listening to conversations while pretending to drink. He sometimes nodded at Chrom and Frederick as a greeting from afar when they glanced at each other by accident. But Chrom was always busy with someone, so he never tried to approached them.

An hour and half had passed when he found a furious handmaiden in a corner of the room. The woman with short hair and slender shoulders was trying her best to hide her anger and not bother the rest of the guests. But Robin could easily see her clenched jaw, her lips pressed into a thin line and her closed fists, her body straight and tense.

Robin followed the direction of her gaze to find a small group of nobles. One man was a count from the northeast part of Ylisse. Robin didn't remember his name, but he knew that, while not a bad person, he was ambitious and impatient, and that was a dangerous combination. The woman next to him was dressed in a maroon dress with black lace around her shoulders and arms that was partially covered by her long, curly, dark hair. She was smiling at the people her complanion was talking to, but her body language clearly indicated she didn't want to be there. The noblewoman sometimes looked around until her glance found the servant in front of Robin and she would smiled slightly. The servant would melt everytime, but then got furious again staring at the couple. No, not at the couple, the tactician realized, but at the count. The servant adored her noblewoman, maybe even more.

Robin's brain started working even before he realized it. An incredible chance had appeared in front of him and he had to seize it. He aproached the servant with two glasses of wine and smiled at her. The servant jumped, startled, and looked warily at him for a second. Then she seemed to remember her position and bowed.

"My apologies, sir, I did not see you aproaching me."

"Don't worry." Robin told her. "I was wondering, do you know that woman?"

The servant looked at him with caution for a second. She was defensive, and while that meant he had to thread carefully, was a good sign to confirm his suspicions.

"She's Katerina Deralla, daughter of the marquis of Deralla. I'm her handmaiden, sir." She answered dryly.

"It doesn't look like your lady is very happy to be with those nobles." Robin commented as if he was talking about the rain.

"The count is her fiancé, sir. She couldn't be happier." The servant said.

The answer came swiftly and clearly, like something that had been rehearsed over and over. Her voice was also cautiously neutral, as if trying to hide how she really felt about the whole issue. Robin had to stop himself from smirking.

He gave the servant one of the glasses of wine and talked before she could protest. "Use this to approach your lady and tell her to pretend to faint in six minutes. I'll get you both out of here for a little while."

The tactician tried to make it sound like a proposal instead of an order, but he could feel his own excitement growing and making him a bit pushy. The handmaiden stared at him with distrust and confusion, but ended up taking the glass and slowly walking to the group of nobles. They were all clealy displeased by her interruption, but soon forgot about her once she left. Robin left his half-drunk glass on a table nearby and waited while pretending to admire the paintings on the walls.

A gasp, the shattering noise of a glass breaking and the sound of a body hiting the ground told him the noblewoman was doing what he had asked. He ran towards her with some other nobles and the handmaiden. Once he asured the worried nobles around him that he would take her to a quieter place, her finacé promptly forgot about her and resumed his conversation with the other companions. The tactician couldn't help but wonder what kind of person wouldn't even pretend to be worried about someone who had just fainted, but he didn't complain. It made things easier for him.

He carried the woman into the garden, closely followed by her handmaiden, and entered a gazebo full of flowers that would give them some privacy. It wasn't too close to the ballroom, nor in the route with the most beautiful and romantic flowers, so it was unlikely that someone would get close to them. Once inside, he let the noblewoman stand, and sat in front of her. The women sat at the other side, a bit closer than decorum would allow between a lady and her handmaiden, which only gave Robin more hopes.

"I apologize for my interrumption," Robin started talking "but it looked to me as if you would apreciate a pause from your companions. Given that you followed my little plan, I will assume I was right. My name is Robin, and I am the Shepherds' tactician."

The noblewoman's eyes lit up in recognition and she put a hand on her mouth in surprise.

"You are the master tactician that helped us win the war against Plegia? It is an honor to meet you personally. My name is Katerina Deralle, and my companion here is Jyne."

The handmaiden bowed her head, but still stared at the tactician cautiously. Robin ignored it. She seemed to be distrustful by nature, and he hadn't given them reasons to trust him yet.

"While I apreciate your help on letting me rest afar from my fiancé's friends, I must wonder why exactly did the prince's tactician decide to assist a lesser noble like me in such a situation." Katerina said then.

She knew he had an ulterior motive; she wasn't an idiot. Robin liked that. He shifted and leaned on the wooden wall behind him, looking directly at them.

"There is something I wish to talk with you. I have a… proposal that could benefit all of us greatly."

Katerina stared back at him, a sparkle of interest on her eyes.

"And what would that be, sir tactician?"

Robin looked at the wooden wall behind them. The next part would either be the start of the negociation or the complete end of their small meeting, as well as the start of a feud. He decided to warn them, in case that could improve his chances.

"My proposal starts with a piece of knowlegde I acquired tonight. A piece of knowledge you won't like me to know." Robin paused, waiting for their reaction. Both women tensed when they heard that, but Katerina nodded and encouraged him to continue. "However, that is exactly the reason why I'm talking with you right now. And I also want to declare that, regardless of how we end this talk, I will not use this information against you in any way." He raised his arms, wanting to garantee them his intentions.

Katerina stared at him, serious, and waiting for him to talk. She already suspected what he woud say. Robin decided to get to the point.

"You two are lovers."

Katerina paled instantly, but didn't do or say anything. Jyne, however, got up with a look of fury and fear worthy of someone in battle. Robin was sure for a split second that the servant would punch him in the face, but the noblewoman arm rose to stop her companion.

"Kate!" The handmaiden complained, staring at her lady. Her fear leaked through her voice.

"Sit down, Jyne." Katerina sounded tense, but didn't raise her voice.

She stared at Robin, who looked back at her without moving, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. The servant finally sat down next to Katerina, definetly too close to be appropiate, and no longer hiding her hostility towards the tactician. The noblewoman clearly wasn't happy with that situation, but she seemed willing to listen, if only because Robin had the upper hand at the moment.

"And what is the proposal?" Katerina didn't waste time.

Robin licked his lips. He didn't like showing weakness to a potential danger, but he knew he'd be doing little more than coercing them unless he gave them something that put them on equal grounds. And this wouldn't work unless they were all happy with it.

"I am, too, in a relationship with a nobleman I cannot marry due to social conventions." Their surprise was immediate, and they also dropped their guard a little. It turned out everyone on that gazebo was on the same page. "As such, my proposal is simple: you marry him and no one of us will have to be forcibly separated from the person they love."

Katerina bit her lip and looked away. "Your proposal is, indeed, an interesting one, but I am afraid I am already enganged."

"Milady's family used to be more powerful than it is now," Jyne added then, "and marrying the count will improve them socialy and economicaly."

"Well, that could be a problem; but if that is the case I find hard to believe your parents would complain about a proposal fron the future Exalt."

The women stared at him with her eyes wide, understanding his words. Jyne was the first one to react.

"You're fucking the _Exalt_?!"

Robin was sure he would have choked on a drink if he still had one.

"Uh, hm, yes?" He answered, still caught short, and blushing softly.

"Jyne, be polite." Katerina scolded her handmaiden, feeling shame from her behaviour.

"He's fucking the Exalt!" Jyne insisted, as if that justified everything.

"He's, huh, not the Exalt yet." Robin said, not really knowing how to react to that outburst.

Jyne rolled her eyes.

"Details, details. Who cares? He's the current ruler and will have his ass on the throne in no time."

"Jyne!" Katerina scolded her again, scandalized.

Robin just chuckled. "Try not to say that around Frederick or he'll make you clean the whole castle on your own."

Jyne frowned. "Who's Frederick? That guy in a suit that was following the prince during the ball and that looked like he had a stick up his ass?"

Robin was unable to stop himself from snorting. "The same."

"He looks like he'd do that." Jyne agreed.

"Jyne, please, behave." Katerin insisted.

She was starting to redden from the embarassement. Jyne leaned her head on her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry." She didn't sound sorry at all.

"I assure you, sir Robin, she's an excellent servant when she wants to."

"When I want to." The handmaiden's smile wasn't apologetic.

Robin laughed, not offended at all, much to Katerina's relief.

"Back to my proposal." The tactician didn't mind the intimacy of the women, but they had been there for a while and it was better if all of them were back at the ball soon. "I still have to talk things with Chrom, but I don't think he will refuse. Once I know his answer tonight, I'll pass a note under the door of your room with it. If he accepts, my plan was having you two spend as much time as possible together during the week; and ending it with a formal proposal from him to your parents and you."

"But my family wanted to go back in three days…"

"Which is why he will invite you and your family to every social gathering and meal I can pull off." Robin made a small pause "Without being too suspicious. Your fiancé won't like it."

"Fuck him." Jyne groaned.

"This won't work if he gets paranoid. We need people to know you're interacting with each other, but not get too intimate until the end of the week. Well, do you agree to do this?"

Both women looked at each other. They were uncertain, but there was hope on their eyes; a hope they hadn't felt since Katerina had been engaged to the count.

"We will." The noblewoman acepted while Jyne just grabbed her hand in agreement.

Robin released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. A step closer. It could work.

He got up and smiled at them. "In that case, let's go back to the ball. Everything will be faster and smoother if I present you to him there."

* * *

"Why were you so interested in having me talk to that woman?"

The question lingered in the air once it got out of Chrom's lips and Robin had the feeling everything in the room had become still. The prince wouldn't like he was scheming behind his back, but Robin had seen a chance and couldn't let it go. He turned to face the man siting in bed and breathed deeply.

"Chrom," He started, looking at him "whether you like it or not, you are going to be the next Exalt. And that means you have responsabilities."

The prince stared at him. He had the feeling he wasn't going to like what the tactician was going to tell him next.

"Those responsabilities include marrying someone and give the Halidom the next heir."

Chrom's expression stiffened and he almost glared at Robin. He stood up.

"So you were finding me a wife? That's what this is about?"

Robin averted his gaze. He breathed deeply to compose himself and stared back again, closing his hands to form a fist.

"She's two years older than you, she's clever and comes from a noble family. She's in a relationship with her handmaiden in the same way you and I. Her parents are desperate for prestige and won't dare to refuse her hand to you. It's... it's better than anything I could ever plan. I wanted to talk with you before doing anything, but this was a chance I couldn't let slip…"

"She's engaged." Chrom pointed out.

"The count just want's more power. Pretend you knew nothing until the last day, give him a plot of land as an apology and he will leave you alone."

It sounded reasonable enough. Chrom wondered what else Robin had planed. The tactician kept talking.

"If you agree, you're suposed to spend time with her at meals and social gatherings, so everyone will notice you're meeting each other, but not in a suspicious way. At the end of the week, you'll write a letter to her parents asking her for marriage, and propose in the final ball."

Chrom closed his eyes and put his hands on his face, shaking his head slowly.

"And how long do I have to think bout it?"

"Tonight." Robin answered. Chrom stared at him, bewildered. "I'm supossed to give them a note tonight with your answer. And I was also thinking of you inviting her formaly to have lunch with you tomorrow. The sooner we start, the less suspicious everything will be."

His words were met with silence. Robin looked away. The anxiety was eating him from the inside. He really hoped Chrom wasn't angry with him, but he clearly wasn't happy. Seconds seemed to last hours in the quietness of the room until Chrom sighted in resignation.

"Sometimes I wonder if there's something you don't plan…"

"I'm sorry." Robin blurted out, his nerves betraying him "I wanted to have done this differently, and I really _don't_ want to force you to accept, but—"

"But this is likely to be the best chance we'll ever have." Chrom finished. He sighted then, his shoulders sinking. "It's fine, I'm not angry with you. It's just… I guess the responsability of being the next Exalt didn't really sink until now…" There was a small pause in which the prince closed his eyes and composed himself. "I'll do it."

Chrom took Robin's hand to show him that he wasn't lying and the tactician felt himself relax a little. Robin hated that part of himself. He could stare in the eyes someone that was about to throw an axe to his face without even flinch, but knowing a friend was upset at him was enough to reduce him to a shaking mess. At least he hadn't started crying. Anxiety was his worst enemy.

"I'll put the note and come back." Robin said.

"I'll be waiting." Chrom promised, with a ghost of a smile on his face.

The tactician nodded and took a paper and ink from Chrom's desk. Then he heft.

Chrom sat heavily on his bed. If Emmeryn had still been alive, he wouldn't have to do any of this. But then it would be her the one to be forced to marry someone, and the prince felt incredibly selfish for wishing it was her the one going through all of this. He thought about her, her smile, her patience, her empathy, her affection. He was sure she would have loved to welcome Robin into the family, even if they could never make it official. He was sure she had been happy to give him the best she could. Robin wanted the best for him as well.

But a world in which Emmeryn was still the Exalt, "the best for Chrom" was fundamentally different than a world in which the throne had fallen upon him. Chrom sighted. He wished the realization had happened sooner.

The door opened slowly and Robin entered the room again. He nodded at Chrom; the note had been delivered. It had started.

Chrom got up and softly grabbed his hands. "Will you stay tonight?"

Robin smiled at him. "Of course, if you want me to."

Chrom smiled back and kissed his lips. Robin answered and freed his hands to hug him instead while Chrom put his around his waist. The kiss was short, but left them both with a warm feeling inside.

"Chrom," Robin whispered while the prince kissed one of his eyes. He humed to indicate he was listening "make love to me."

Chrom stopped and stared at him, surprised. "Are you sure? I've never…"

"I trust you." Robin assured him with a smile.

Chrom nodded and kissed him again. He picked him up and softly left him on his bed. Robin welcomed the prince's weight with a hug. And Chrom kissed him, and kissed him, and kissed him.

* * *

 **New chapter! I hope you like the OCs!**

 **And thank you all so much for the comments! They make my day!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I wrote the second part of the chapter listening non-stop to both versions of Vage Hope from Nier Automata. So if you like music suggestions, there you have it! Enjoy!**

* * *

Robin woke up as soon as the sunlight entered the room. He yawned and untangled himself from Chrom, who was sleeping like a log. The tactician felt tired and drowzy. Having asked Chrom for a second _and_ a third round after they woke up from their first sleep hadn't been his smartest idea. It was so strange to see the tactician denying himself whatever sleep he could get Chrom had actually stopped and asked if he was using the sex as some form of apology for the marriage plan. Robin denied vehemently. He just wanted to be with him.

The tactician forced himself to get out of the bed and dress up. He had things to do. Robin wrote a note for Chrom reminding him of the plan and what invitations he had to write. Then he got out of the chamber through the secret door well hidden in the living room. He traveled through the hidden corridors in almost complete darkness for a few minutes. Then he pushed a small lever and got out. He had appeared at the guest wing. There were less guards there than around the royal wing, and Robin slipped into Katerina's chamber unoticed. He had to thank Gaius for teaching him how to pick locks eficiently.

He knocked the door to the bedroom and waited. He heard some muffled noises beyond, and Jyne opened the door after a while. She had her best "servant" face, altough she looked a little annoyed at being woken up so early. Her face changed into one of surprise when she saw the tactician.

"What are you doing here so early?"

"Telling you the plan in detail." He answered without missing a beat. "Where is Katerina?"

The noblewoman appeared behind Jyne and stared at him, giving him her full attention. Robin breathed deeply, organizing his thoughts.

"There will be a big lunch today. Nothing as fancy as last night, but still important. You will be invited, of course; but I'll make sure you are close to Chrom's seat; and your fiancé and parents are sat as far as I can. I cannot sit you next to Chrom, however. That would be too forward."

"And how about the count?" Katerina asked.

"I'll tell Chrom to sit him next to someone that can keep him entertained. I'm open to suggestions, if you have them. In the afternoon there will be some other activities to entertain the guests. Go to any you want, but if you see Chrom in them, don't aproach him yet. Wait for the ballroom that will take place tonight. Once it starts, dance with two or three people, and then Chrom will aproach you. Try to look interested while you dance."

"But the count—" Jyne started.

"He'll be away in a riddle contest with other nobles who would rather try to use their wits than their feet for entertaining. But your parents will be at the dance. Make sure they see you interact with Chrom. If you feel it would be safe to have a second dance with him after a while, go for it, but try to not overdo it. Nobody can suspect something's up."

Both women nodded, with a determined look on their eyes.

"And one last thing." He stared directly at Jyne. "I need you to be my eyes. I may have been invited to the celebration last night, but I was pretty much a pet to satisfy the nobles curiosity towards the unknown tactician that earned the victory at war. Most won't want me at the activities again, so I can't go. But you do. Pay attention to everything, particularly to how people react around Katerina and Chrom. I'll come again at night so you can inform me. Once I know I'll start detailing tomorrow and the next day's plan."

"You have already planned for tomorrow?" Jyne asked, eyes wide.

"Um, yeah? I thought of going a bit slower, so I you'll just go to the play that will take place in the afternoon and talk with Chrom in public both before and after the play. Maybe you could discuss what you liked or not further after it's finished while you wait for dinner. You're fiancé probably go too unless he shows absolutely no interest on the play, but he shouldn't be a problem. Protesting about you comenting the play with another man would make him look paranoid, I doubt he'll do anything. The next day is when you're suposed to leave, but you're parents will have trouble refusing a direct invitation from the prince for a falconry hunt, as well as some board games after it's finished to relax before dinner. I haven't thought exactly of what to do the next day, partly because I want to see how these days develope, but I have a couple of options…" He trailed off, and then he realized the two women were staring at him as if he had suddenly become a manakete.

"You truly are an amazing tactician, sir Robin." Katerina declared, still having trouble believing the man in front of him had planed so far ahead in barely a single night.

"Yeah, you're crazy." Jyne agreed.

Robin shut his mouth, suddenly aware of the rambling he had been inmersed in, and blushed in embarassement. He reminded them of what they had to do that day and left.

* * *

Robin had refused to let Katerina's fiancé leave before Chrom's proposal. If the count wasn't acknowledged, they could risk letting people suspect something was being plotted behind his back related to Chrom's and Katerina's fast growing interest on each other. Her parents looked very satisfied knowing her daugther was forging such a powerful friendship. The count hadn't started to suspect the posibility of his fianceé growing too close to the prince until the very last day. He made the mistake of not complaining until he saw Chrom publicly asking for her hand to both her and her parents the last day of the celebrations.

(Lissa gasped so hard a servant aproached her, thinking she was choking. Frederick almost dropped his drink)

But as Robin had predicted, her parents were more than delighted to get political ties with the Ylissean royalty, and the count forgot all his complaints once he got a big plot of land not too far from his property.

That night Robin was pacing around his room like a caged dragon, waiting for Jyne's report with his heart in his throat. But the big smile she had when she entered his room and the hug she gave him told him everything he needed to know. She almost started crying of relief, and Robin could feel the tension of his body starting to leave as well.

 _It had worked._

Jyne left a little after that, and Robin considered going to see Chrom; but since the proposal had been public, he expected someone would come to see him as well. Half an hour later, he heard a soft knock on the door to his room. Lissa entered with a worried expression that became even worse when she saw him giggling like a fool with a soft blush on his cheeks. He looked extremely happy, and she didn't know how to tell him the news about the proposal.

"Hum… Robin… Something happened today and…" She started, not knowing exactly how to break the news.

But Robin just smiled at her like a fool. "Chrom and Katernia are going to get married."

Her eyes widened in surprised. "Y-yes. How did you know…?"

"I can't believe this worked."

"What?"

When the cleric showed her confusion, Robin summarized the situation for her. She listened with a mouth on her hand. Being raised as a princess, she felt a bit unsettled about the scandal and disgrace of the situation. But this way her brother and her friend could be happy, they could make another couple happy, and the Council would leave them alone.

"Ok." She smiled after a bit. Robin's happiness at the moment was contagious. This couldn't be a bad idea if both him and his brother were smiling like they were the ones engaged, she decided. "I'll keep it a secret, of course." She asured. Robin nodded and thanked her.

His happiness was interrupted by a sudden wave of nausea. He gritted his teeth and grabbed the chair for support until it passed. Lissa got closer, alarmed. Robin swallowed and cleaned the sweat on his forehead.

"It's fine." He assured, but he sounded too breathless for her to like it. "It's been a very stresful week, I think I've just started to release the anxiety…"

"Lay down." She ordered in the voice she used whenever she had healing duties.

Robin did, nor really feeling like arguing, and let her examine him. She didn't find anything serious, so she left the room for a few moments to get him a relaxing infusion and brought it back to him. She still forbid him to leave the room that night, he needed rest. Robin accepted, resigned, and asked her to leave a message for Chrom.

* * *

Both the wedding and the coronation were planned for the same day, two weeks after Chrom's proposal. And after not few complaints from both Robin and the treasurer claiming the vaults were less full that anyone would have liked, and that there had been enough celebrations for the time being. The decision would also reduce the time other nobles would waste traveling to the capital from their castles and foretress, so nobody complained too loudly.

There were many things to plan and the castle turned into a bigger frenzy than when they had to prepare the celebrations for the victory and the end of the war. Robin hadn't been able to rest as much as he would have liked, having been tasked part of the planning. He was constantly exhausted and slightly irritated.

He woke up when dawn was barely starting, sky still dark with a lighter blue line on the horizon. He felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach, and he was sure his face was pale. He tried to move slowly while getting out of the bed, but he kept feeling worse as time passed. He leaned on his arms instead of siting straight, hoping it would help his nausea. It didn't do much. He felt his body covered with a thin layer of cold sweat and the sudden pain in his stomach told him he was going to throw up. He got up as fast as he could and went to the toilet, reaching for the bucket just in time to not make a mess in his room.

Once he stopped, he put the bucket aside and got up slowly, his arms shaking. He sat heavily on the chair and brought the jug of water and the bowl to the desk to clean himself. He didn't feel better, but he tried to breath deeply and slowly to relax. Today was Chrom's coronation and wedding; he couldn't afford not to attend, much less making a mess of himself. He would make everyone worried and and he'd die of embarassement.

He heated the clean water left on the jug and dropped some herbs he kept on his room. He laid down again while the infusion got ready. Then he drank it slowly and waited for it to help his stomach. He breathed slowly once he felt better and started dressing on the clothes Frederick had delivered the previous day. He didn't own anything special, but he couldn't go to such ceremony wearing his usual robes, so the knight had made sure he was made a special attire for the ocasion. Lissa had been the one to get his measurements.

The new clothes were light blue with white details and dark blue pants, and tighter than he was used to. They were still quite confortable. He could probably spend the whole day on them without wanting to scratch every single part of his body.

Robin checked the time looking at the window. Dawn had finished and he could heard the rest of the Shepherds leaving the canteen. Everyone had woken up and was getting ready for the ceremony that would begin at noon. The day was starting, and at that meant it was unlikely that anyone would come to see him until the hour the ceremony started. That gave him some time. He sliped from his room and got to the closest secret passage he knew of. He arrived at the secret door in Chrom's chamber a few minutes later, but the noise he heard told him the prince wasn't alone. It looked like Frederick was helping him getting ready. Robin patiently waited until the noise disappeared. It was likely they would leave Chrom alone for a while until the ceremony, and Robin was waiting for that chance. After a few minutes, he heard Frederick leave.

Robin entered the room at the same time Chrom sighted heavily. It made the tactician chuckle.

"You don't sound very excited about your wedding, milord" He teased him with an easy smile.

Chrom turned his head, alarmed, when he heard a voice from behind, but relaxed when he saw Robin coming from the secret door. That thing was so damn well hidden he usually forgot it was there. Robin had kept the existence of the secrete passages to himself and Chrom only, both for safety and self-interest, but he had advised Chrom to block that part of the room whever he went to sleep. The prince still forgot to do it most of the time.

Robin had gone there ready to tease or cheer up Chrom if needed, knowing he wasn't excited for the wedding nor the coronation —yet another remainder of his dead sister—, but the vision of him left him breathless. Chrom was wearing a dark blue attire with gold details, with a heavy, light blue cloak covering it, crowned with a golden circlet decorated with a red gem.

He was _gorgeous._

"By your reaction I'm going to asume I look good." Chrom said then, with a teasing look on his eyes.

Robin felt the blood rushing to his face. He got closer to him and then noticed the colors of their respective attires _almost_ matched. That couldn't have been a coincidence. He should have worried about someone noticing, but instead his heart started fluttering, his mind trying to picture how they would look next to each other.

"Yes." The part of his brain that was still there managed to produce an anwser.

Chrom didn't tease him inmediately, and by his look Robin guessed he was having the same kind of realization. He stared intensly at Robin's face, with a soft blush on his cheeks and the most endearing expression he had seen him wear. Robin thought his chest was going to explode. It couldn't be healthy to feel this excited, this happy, over a couple of pieces of cloth.

Chrom searched for something in one of his pockets. He took one of Robin's hands and put it on it. It was a signet ring with the crest of the royal family of Ylisse. Robin stared at it in confusion until Chrom explained.

"My parents had it made for me when I was born. So I could give it to the person I loved. And I…" He swallowed, feeling nervous. Why was he nervous? They had been together for months already "I want you to accept it." He managed to blurt out, waiting intensely for Robin's answer.

The other man stared quietly at the ring, with an expression the prince couldn't quite place. Then Robin slowly took out the glove of the hand withouth that purple brand and put on the ring. It fit. He put on the glove again to hide it from people who shouldn't see it. Then he gently grabbed Chrom's hands and pressed their forheads together. He breathed slowly, trying to make the knot in his throat dissapear.

"Chrom." His voice was a whisper, but sounded serious. His closed eyes and gentle but firm grip on his hands made the situation strangely solemn in Chrom's eyes, and he waited until Robin spoke again.

"Will you be at my side, protect me and help me, love me, until your last breath?"

Oh. Oh, gods. Chrom felt his heart hammering his chest so fast it almost hurt. He had to swallow to untie the knot on his own throat.

"Yes." He answered, breatheless. He swallowed, knowing what Robin was patiently waiting for. "Will you be at my side, protect me and help me, love me until your last breath?"

"Yes." The tactician's answer came without hesitation.

They kissed, pressing his lips intensely; but Robin tightened the grip on his hands to make sure they wouldn't hug yet.

They opened their eyes slowly after it. Robin raised an arm to clean a tear that was escaping from Chrom's eyes. Both were blushing with a soft smile in their faces.

"How am I going to tell Katerina I'm already married?" Chrom's smile widened, and he sounded the happiest he had been in his life.

"I'm sure she'll understand." Robin answered. His voice did waver sligtly and he had to swallow. "And I'm sure Jyne will comfort her if necessary."

They stood next to each other, grabbing their hands in a comfortable silence. After a while, Robin sighted and slowly separated from Chrom. The time for the ceremony was coming and he couldn't be found on that room.

"I should leave. I'll see you at the althar." Robin winked at him.

Chrom grabbed tightly his hands for a second as a farewell and watched him disappear though the secret passage.

* * *

Lissa's worries turned into surprise when she saw both her brother and Robin beaming with happiness at the ceremony. She had been the one who had suggested the colours of Robin's clothes, thinking the matching hues could provide them some comfort when one of them would get married to someone else.

She hadn't expected them to look so happy they could be confused with a couple on a honeymoon. Even Katerina looked slightly puzzled at Chrom's obvious joy when they exchanged the vows.

But Lissa was then completely sure: something that gave both of them such a bliss couldn't be bad.


	9. Chapter 9

Chrom was suddenly awakened by the loud voice of a woman.

"Morning lovebirds! How was your night?" A brunette young woman was standing in front of the bed, with both hands on her waist and a huge grin on her face.

"Jyne?! What are you doing here?!" The newly wed Exalt sat upright, while Katerina fumbled around bed, suddenly awakened and startled by her handmaiden.

Jyne stared at them critically. They were both dressed and the bedsheets weren't particularly untidy. Definetively nothing noteworthy had happened that night. Jyne shook her head in what seemed disappointment, to the confused pair.

"Well? What are you waiting for? C'mon, up! Up! I have to fix this before someone else comes." She gesticulated wildly to make sure they would hurry.

The nobles promptly obeyed and ran away from the bed, standing next to her. Then Jyne got onto it and started to crease the cloth as much as she could.

"Fixing… what, exactly?" Chrom asked, watching her mess up his bed in a way that would have given Frederick a heart attack.

"Everything!" She replied, as if it was obvious "You two are supposed to have gone through a really passionate first night, so I came here early to make sure that was exactly what it looked like!" Jyne stared at a pillow that was on her hands with a malicious smile "Should I tear it? It'll add some spice…"

"No! They're expensive!" Chrom replied.

Jyne frowned, disappointed, but then she shrugged and threw it to the ground. She took a knife out from a pocket and made a small cut on her finger, and let a few drops fall onto the sheets. When Katerina saw it, she blushed intensly and had to look away.

"There. That should be enough." Then she turned to Chrom and Katerina, who were still staring at her without knowing what to do, but blushing a little more than before. "Robin left me a message for you, too. He said you're forbidden to go to the barracks for a few days."

"What?!" Chrom's reaction was instant and disbelieveing, but Jyne just rolled her eyes.

"You've just married. You have to act like it! And going to check on your tactician first thing in the morning while ignoring you're wife is going to be strange at least. Go around holding hands and drink tea together or something. Marriage is the first step, you have to fool everyone now."

Chrom pressed his lips, but didn't protest. She was right, of course.

"Then perhaps we could start having breakfast together?" Katerina looked at Chrom apologetically, apologizing for her handmaiden's straightforward behaviour.

The Exalt's face relaxed a little. He was the main actor in an important play, and he had to play his part. And his partner, Katerina, was a nice and intelligent girl. He could do it. They both could.

"That will be great." He answered with a sincere smile.

"Good!" Jyne sudden voice startled him "Because breakfast will be coming here in half an hour, probably less. Try to look less ready and more naked, seriously."

Then she walked to the door, getting really close to Katerina and sneaking a kiss to her cheeck, before grabbing the doorknob, yelling a farewell and leaving the room. The longhaired woman blushed intensely, but Chrom just thought of how adorable the small act had been. The handmaiden would probably be close to them, since it was her duty to help her lady however she could, and Chrom felt a bit jealous. He too wanted to sneak up on the tactician and kiss his cheek when he least expected, to see his reaction. He realized Robin would probably want to go to the castle as much as he wanted to go to the barracks, and that precisely because of that he wouldn't appear there at all unless there was an emergency that required him. Because it was safer for everyone. For Chrom.

"We are really lucky to have them." Chrom sighed with a smile, still staring at the closed door.

"Yes, we are." Katerina agreed. Then she giggled. "Shall we get ready for breakfast? Or less ready…"

* * *

It turned out Chrom had more things to do than he had remembered, and papers had piled up on his desk, forgotten on the last days of frenzy before the wedding. Frederick helped with anything he could, but since Chrom had to spend the afternoons with Katerina, he hadn't been able to go to the barracks for four days. Not only had he wanted to see all of his friends again, but he had started to get worried about his lack of training.

He arrived at the barracks right after lunch, so most of the Shepards were still there, finishing their meals. They smiled at him and congratulated him on the marriage, with a couple of indecent coments courtesy of Vaike, much to Maribelle's displeasure. Chrom had just sat down when the door to the canteen opened and two people entered. Robin's gloves were black and he was holding a charred piece of wood, while frowning intensely. Miriel's face was serious as well. They both slumped on chairs next to the table, the tactician throwing the wood onto the flat surface as if its presence offended him.

"So… hum… how was this time?" Ricken asked the newcomers, already fearing the answer.

"Bad." Robin groaned, still staring at the wood as if he wanted to kill it.

"Unsatifactory." Miriel added.

"I still can't believe it burned so fast. It's oak!"

Miriel hummed in agreement.

"Maybe with stone…?" Robin proposed, not very convinced himself.

"Previous results confirm that unless we find a method to stabilize and control the temperature, the surface of the material will augment until it becomes untouchable."

Sully had enough.

"By Naga, you've been like this for three days!" Her voice boomed though the silent room, startling Robin and Miriel, who stopped mumbling and looked at her "I thought you came here to eat, not discuss your stupid box! And Chrom's here!"

"Sorry." Robin mumbled, but smiled at his friend and waved. Then he started to munch unhappily at his food, glaring from time to time at the charred piece.

"And what's that… experiment about?" Chrom asked, wanting to talk with him more after so many days.

Stahl looked at him as if he had made a terrible mistake, and suddenly almost everyone present remembered they had things to do and left the place. Robin's face lit up almost literally and smiled at him so warmly Chrom was sure he was blushing himself.

"It's something I've been wanting to do since before the war ended, actually." The tactician started scratching his neck under his left ear in excitment "I wanted to try to make a better method of heating, a more efficient one. Metal carries heat really well, so I thought that maybe if we cover the wall of a room with iron and heat a small part, it could eventually warm the whole room." His smile wavered "But…"

"We fabricated a wooden box with an internal metallic structure." Miriel continued "The idea was to apply high temperature on an end outside the wood, and let the metal transfer the heat though the box, creating a warm space within it."

"But the heat gets so high the wood burns. And if we stop applying heat, it becomes cold really fast. So we need a way to make the temperature stable." The tactician sighed "And we have nothing so far."

The mage adjusted her glasses.

"It is perhaps in our best interest to meditate on this dilemma, and approach it from another perspective."

Robin hummed, munching on a piece of bread. A break could help him become unstuck from it. At least it was better than thinking about it over and over. And he'd burn less resources, literally.

"How about you take a break with some training?" Chrom proposed, remembering the other reason why he had gone to the barracks "It's been a while."

"I'd love to." Robin gave him a small smile. "But I've been a bit dizzy lately. So I think I'll just look and tell you all of your mistakes." He gave the Exalt a mischievous smile. He was glad to have Chrom's company again.

Chrom chuckled and nodded. He felt he had been away weeks instead of a few days.

* * *

The solution to the heating problem came up some days later, when Robin was having some tea Jyne had brought him on a whim. She was sneaky and unpredictable for a servant, but cunning enough to act like that when nobody important was looking. The servant slumped on his bed without asking permision after leaving the kettle and teacup on his desk.

"Our Exalted ruler misses you, y'know?" She started.

Robin raised his eyebrows.

"I see him almost everyday now while training."

"I mean in private. At night. That thing." She gave him a mischievous smile.

"Oh." He realized, blushing softly. "Well, I was thinking of letting some time pass, since the wedding happened not long ago…"

"That was two weeks ago!" Jyne laughed, throwing the metal tray up and catching it again with her hands before it could hit her face. "People don't expect them to bang everyday, you know?"

"Yeah, I do." He answered, raising a naked hand to grab the teacup without looking, still reading his notes "I didn't think it would have been two weeks already…" The experiment was on a deadend and he was spending all day thinking about it. He had been engrossed by it. "Ouch!" He hissed in pain, touching the kettle instead by accident.

"Be careful, the water is really hot." Jyne informed, too late.

"Yeah, I noticed." The tactician replied, sucking on his hurt finger.

Then he realized how strange that conversation had been. She had told him the water was hot. But what he had touched was metal. The metal that was hot because the water inside was still hot… He looked at the tray the handmaiden was still playing with.

"Let me touch that." He demanded, grabbing the platter before it could fall again, earning a cry of protest.

It was cold, but at one time, at least one part of it had to have been as hot as the kettle, which at the same time was as hot as the water it contained. His eyes widened at the revelation, and he gave the tray back to Jyne while getting out of the room.

Robin heard Jyne ask where was he going, before following him, but he didn't answer and instead went straight to Miriel's room. He knocked loudly and waited for her to answer. She opened a few moments later, but Robin talked before she could.

"Metal tubes full of hot water around the box. We can make the water run so it warms the space equally."

"The temperature will be easier to regulate as well…" Miriel mumbled, with her eyes closed. Then she nodded "Yes, we should experiment with that."

"What?" Jyne asked, confused.

Robin looked at her, beaming.

"We're trying to make a heating box. Do you want to help us?"

She stepped back instinctvely at the sudden enthusiasm.

"No, thanks. Work to do. Bye."

And she left as fast as she could without running.

* * *

Robin waited until he was sure he couldn't hear anything and then got out of the secret passage. The window next to him was opened, and he could hear the soft wind blowing through the leaves. Some of them were already turning yellow, a sign of the colder seasons that were to arrive soon. He closed the window, making sure the chamber wouldn't grow cold.

Robin slowly turned the doorknob of the bedroom and entered, locking the door after him. The light of the fireplace greeted him, as well as a voice from the bed.

"So the tactician has finally decided to pay a visit to his commander."

Robin was relieved to hear that he sounded amused instead of angry.

"Sorry. I was engrossed with the experiment." Robin apologized. He took out a notebook from his robe and left it on the desk, and then left the robe itself on a chair.

Chrom shook his head while the tactician aproached the bed. "One day you two are going to forget how to breath while blowing something up."

"We don't blow things up." Robin pouted, getting on the bed "On purpose, anyway. But…"

Chrom noticed the change on his voice and the thumb that was slowly sliding over his neck, and felt a shiver. He gulped, expectant, and saw his lover smile.

"If you really want me to blow something, you just need to ask."

* * *

Frederick had always known that his lord's friendship with his tactician was strong. Even though they had found him in the middle of nowhere, a single battle against Plegian bandits had been enough for Chrom to decide that Robin was worthy of his trust. Despite the knight's initial suspicions, Robin proved to be a great friend even to Frederick himself. In his eyes, the problem wasn't that Chrom and Robin were close, but that the closeness seemed to have left Katerina behind.

Frederick was sharp and observant, always ready to detect any danger (or lesser annoyances) that could affect his lord, in order to help him. And while his behaviour was nothing out of the ordinary, he had expected him to be closer to his wife, and leave the tactician a bit behind for the time being. Excluding a couple of weeks after the ceremony, it hadn't been the case. So, for the good of the Halidom and the future heir that would follow, Frederick decided it was time to talk with the tactician himself to try to convince him to give Chrom and Katerina space. Or rather, try to get the tactician to convince Chrom to pay less attention to the tactician and more to his wife. The knight felt there was something innerently wrong with such a situation, but the happiness he had seen on his lord's face on the day of the wedding had seemed genuine.

Robin was in the canteen, stirring his food slowly with his fork, with a frown on his face. It was strange to see the tactician not inhaling his meal, even moreso when he was fond of the creamy rice with mushrooms they were having that day.

"Robin, could we talk in private?" Frederick aproached him with a smile.

When the few people that were still there saw the knight's smile, they ran away. Gaius threw himself out of the window and Stahl promised to go to the tactician's funeral before disappearing through the door as fast as he could.

Robin slowly looked up, wondering what was wrong exactly, but not feeling really confident after being scrutinized under such a serious look. The knight's face, however, softened a little after watching him closer. The tactician was paler than usual, with dark bags under his eyes. He looked exhausted, and a quick glance to the plate next to him proved he had barely touched his food.

"Are you feeling well?" Frederick asked, concerned. "You've felt sick lately."

Robin gave him a smile.

"Yeah, I'm just not hungry right now." His stomach decided to betray him and growl loudly at that exact moment. Robin sighed in defeat and pushed the plate away from him "Fine. I'm hungry, but this tastes weird and I think I'll throw up if I try to eat it."

Frederick raised his eyebrows. The vegetable risotto was one of his favourite meals and nobody else seemed to have trouble with it.

"I don't know, either." Robin raised his hands in defeat "I can't stomach most foods anymore and I've been sleeping worse than usual. I think it's the anxiety, because of the war and all that…"

"But the war ended more than a month ago."

"I know, but I'm usually more stressed after something happens rather than while it is happening. It think it's like…" He frowned, thinking "Like holding something very heavy. You force yourself to hold on as long as necessary, but once you no longer have that weight, it's like your body gives up all at once. Like how I'm able to be calm in battle no matter what, but the moment everything it's over and I'm alone…" He whispered, and then gave a long sigh.

Frederick nodded. He had never thought of something like that, but the comparison was clear enough. Robin then got up.

"Perhaps you should let a healer check your health."

"Lissa already did and found nothing." Robin sighed. Then he looked at him. "Well, you wanted to talk with me in private, right? Let's go."

"Where?"

"To my room. Unless you had another place in mind?" The tactician looked at him, wondering; but the knight shook his head and followed him.

They went to the furthest part of the barracks, near to the wall and the gardens. The less frequented place now had some more residents than Miriel and Robin. Libra found the silence and quietness better for praying, and Olivia felt it was easier to practice dancing knowing nobody was around. Tharja lived at the far end of the hallway, where nobody would bother her while she made her hexes.

When they entered the room, Robin sat heavily on his bed while offering Frederick the only chair of the room. The tactician looked tired.

"Well, what did you want to talk with me?"

Frederick suddenly remembered the reason why he was here, and his face became serious again. He cleared his throat.

"Robin, I am well aware of the close bond that connects you and milord. However, he now has a wife and needs to fulfill his duty to her as well. And I'm sure you know it as well. So I wanted your help in convincing him to pay more attention to his spouse."

"I told him he was being obvious." Robin muttered under his breath. He closed his mouth right after it and cautiously looked at Frederick. The knight's expression showed his confusion and surprise. He had heard it.

"What?" His voice was sharp. "What is that suposed to mean?"

Robin bit his lower lip and scratched his neck. He breathed deeply. Frederick was Chrom's retainer, and he was loyal and usually understanding. Keeping him in the dark was something Robin wanted to avoid for a while, but he was unsure of how he would react to the… news.

"I guess it's about time we tell you." Robin declared, sounding more defeated than sure of himself.

He then laid on his bed and put an arm over his eyes to protect them from the light that entered thought the window. He looked relaxed, but ready to strike at the same time. Like a wolf wondering if an intruder was dangerous or not.

"Lock the door." He ordered.

Frederick looked at him in confusion, but didn't move. Robin moved his arm to stare at him. His tired expresion had changed for one both wary and fierce. Frederick wondered what had he said exactly so that the quiet tactician was suddenly seeing him as a threat.

"Lock the door, Frederick." Robin ordered again.

The knight frowned. Robin's look had put him on ward, and while he consciously knew the tactician wasn't going to attack him, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable closing his quickest way out. Still, he did as told. Once the click could be heard, Robin seemed to lose all his strength at once, and suddenly looked much less sure of himself. But before Frederick could ask, the white haired man slowly removed the glove of his left hand and extended the limb towards the knight.

Frederick took the hand and saw a ring with the mark of the Ylisse on his left hand. A ring Chrom had told him about, a ring that was supossed to be given to the person Chrom loved most.

"What is the meaning of this?!" The knight tried not to shout, but he found himself giving in to sudden outrage.

"Do you take me for the kind of person that would steal something like this?" Robin asked, calmly.

Frederick tried to compose himself. No, he didn't. Robin was an honest man that never wished for others' wealth. Him stealing a ring like that, a ring that almost nobody knew of, was unthinkable.

"No." He admited. But then…

"Then it means exactly what it means." The tactician simply said.

Fredericks lips turned into a thin line. Then he turned his back to Robin and headed for the door.

"They'll deny everything and you'll cause unnecesary stir." Robin said before he could open it. "Chrom, Katerina, Jyne and me, we all know about it. We all agreed to it. The wedding was arranged among the four of us, a… deal, you could say."

His lord, with a lover within days after holy marriage? Preposterous.

"Are you suggesting I just ignore all of this?" Frederick didn't know what he was going to do, but he had the need to do something about it. Anything.

Robin looked at him for a moment. Then he closed his eyes.

"Nobilities expectations would never let us marry the ones we love. So we were forced to find a middle ground between our duty and our happiness. We all agreed to it because it was the best for everyone, and we are content with the result. What is so wrong about that?"

Frederick looked back at the tactician. His eyes were a strange mix between sadness and happiness, fear and hope. And the knight realized he didn't have an answer to that.

* * *

 **A thousand thanks to my beta DestructionDragon360! Who knows how long it would have taken me to update this without your help...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Posibly what you were waiting for but probably not what you were expecting.**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

Frederick stood in at the side of the room while examining the papers he had in his hands and trying to ignore Chrom. It was harder than it should have been, given how his lord kept fidgeting with the papers he was supposed to be reading and shooting nervous glances at the knight. It was clear he wanted to ask him something, but didn't know how to approach the matter. And while the knight could have asked, he knew it was probably better to wait until his lord felt ready to talk.

Chrom finally cleared his throat and Frederick stopped staring at the same word he had for the last three minutes.

"Frederick?"

"Yes, milord?"

Chrom stared at him seriously, then he seemed to lose some of his determination and looked down, staring at the papers. Then he frowned and looked at Frederick again. The knight silently prayed it wouldn't take long. It was ridiculous behaviour, and a little bit unnerving.

"Robin told me that he talked with you about… our relationship. And that you didn't take it too well…"

Chrom was trying to appear calm, but his tense expresion told Frederick his anxiety was about to explode. He knew well the possible consequences that their hidden relationship could have. But after looking at him in silence, Frederick simply sighed.

"It's not… something I expected from you, milord." He confessed.

Chrom looked down in shame, like a child who had just been told he shouldn't sneak around the kitchen to eat sweets at night.

"So I decided to ask Katerina about it the next day."

"What?!" Chrom got up from his sit, bewildered.

"I wanted to confirm what Robin had told me, that all of you knew about it and had agreed to it." The knight explained to his anxious lord. "Only then would I be able to think about it properly."

"Oh." Chrom was silent a few seconds before he gathered the strength to talk again. "And… what was your conclusion?"

Frederick left his papers in the desk and stared at Chrom.

"If I can be completely honest I… can't say I like it. It goes against everything a knight should stand for; it's a great dishonor, especially for the royal family."

Chrom's hope seemed to sink with every word, and he had trouble keeping his composure.

"But it's true that all of you seem happy about it, and that it's your only choice if you want to keep your loved ones close. You are not keeping it secret because of some scheme against the throne and, as much as I don't like thinking about it, it is highly doubtful you are the only ones in history to do something like this. My conclusion, milord, was simple: what do I know about anything, anyway? I only ask you to be cautious, if word got out, it would be a great scandal. And, of course, I will keep it a secret."

Chrom looked at Frederick as if he had just remembered how to breathe, and gave a nervous laugh.

"Thank you, Frederick. You are the best friend I could ask for."

Frederick smiled when he heard that and returned to his paper. They still had a lot to finish that day.

"Thank you, milord. It is an honor."

* * *

Robin's eyes opened slowly -thanks- to the sunlight filtering through the window. He groaned and turned, trying to flee from the light. It was a bad call: a wave of nausea rushed though his body the instant he did. He sat up fast and numbly searched for the wooden bucket that laid near the bed. It was empty, but not for long. Robin threw up bile and saliva, yet internally thanked the gods that it hadn't happened last night and he had managed to contain the dinner inside his body.

He sighed, resigned, once he stopped, left the bucket on the floor and slowly got up to clean his face with the water jug. He remembered having told Frederick it was just anxiety, but it had been three weeks since he had started feeling nausea almost every morning. The relaxing infusions helped, but not as much as usual. It was starting to get ridiculous, and as much as he'd like to think it was anxiety, the problem just had to be somewhere else. The prospect of letting Lissa examine him again just in case seemed more appealing each day. He was the kind of person that could digest almost anything, yet lately not only would most foods upset his stomach, but he ended up throwing up half of what he managed to eat. He was starting to feel seriously weak.

But it was so early the sun had barely risend, so Lissa wouldn't be around for several hours. He decided to take this chance to take a bath in the common bathroom of the barracks before someone else came. Then he could start the paperwork for the day. His stomach growled, but by then he knew better than checking the canteen on his own. He'd wait for someone to get out and ask them what food there was that day.

* * *

A knock on the door surprised the focused tactician. He tensed, and checked the paper he was writing; he hadn't stained it with ink by accident. He sighed in relief and got up to open the door. Chrom was there, smiling warmly at him.

"Hello, Robin. How are you doing?"

"Fine, I think." He smiled back.

"Are you sure? Frederick and Lissa have told me you haven't been eating well. And you look tired." Chrom was frowning.

The tactician sighed. "I know... But Lissa already checked me and found nothing, so I can only wait for it to go on its own." He then realized he had been so engrossed in his papers he had actually forgotten to eat that day. One day his work would kill him.

The Exalt didn't look satisfied with that answer, but if the healer had already given her verdict, there was nothing else he could do. He had to restrain himself from stroking Robin's cheek to show his support, and then he remembered the other reason he was there.

"Katerina and I will be having some tea this afternoon. Will you come? Lissa, Frederick and Jyne will be there too."

Robin scratched his neck thoughtfully. If Jyne was there, it meant that no other servant would be around; so it was essentially a double date. It was a chance to relax in private, and basically the first time all of them would be together since the wedding.

"Sure." Robin confirmed "I'd love to. I just have to finish these papers about the new pegasus knight recruits. Cordelia asked me to come up with a couple of strategies so they could start training in coordinated tactics.

After the war, there were few pegasus knights left, and most of them had asked Cordelia to fill the role of captain; overseeing the training of the new additions, organizing patrols and making sure everything was working properly again as soon as possible. Robin didn't doubt she would end up as the new captain of the guard, and that she would be an amazing one. But Cordelia herself wasn't very comfortable with the idea yet, feeling as if she was stealing Phila's position, so he was careful not to mention it to her.

"Did something happen?" Chrom's voice returned the tactician to reality, and he looked at him confused.

He realized Chrom was looking at his room. The bed was a mess, and there were books and papers on the ground. The desk was the only place relatively clean, and there were still more papers than the Exalt was used to seeing. Robin was far from a Miriel-level of organization, but he could compete with Frederick on certain aspects. It was strange to see his room so unorganized.

"I… lost something; and I was looking for it."

"Was it important?"

"Yeah…" Robin sighed in defeat. "It's not the end of the world, I can always make another one. But it's annoying."

Chrom's face showed both concern and interest.

"You made it?"

To his surprise, the tactician blushed softly and looked away.

"It was a… hmm… notebook. With dates. Like a calendar."

Chrom frowned, suddenly sure he had seen something like that. Then he realized where.

"Thin, with a brown leather cover and a blue fabric bookmark? You left it in my room some days ago and I put it on a drawer. I can get it after the tea."

"Oh." It was Robin's only reaction. That certainly explained why he had been unable to find it anywhere in his room. "Thank you. Well, I'll see you there, then."

Chrom nodded and waved him goodbye. Robin closed the door and picked up some of the papers on the ground and put them on the bed. Then he sat back at the desk. The sooner he gave Cordelia her new tactics, the sooner he could go to that tea.

* * *

When Robin opened the door to Katerina's quarters, he was greeted by Jyne's whiny voice.

"You're laaaaaate!" She complained.

She was laying down on a long white couch, with her head on Katerina's lap and her feet on the armrest. She waved a hand lazily. Katerina giggled.

"It's fine, Robin." She smiled at him "Jyne just brought us the tea."

"You're welcome." The handmaiden added, smugly "I'd throw you a peanut for arriving late, but it wouldn't reach."

"It would if you got up." The tactician replied with a smile, as he walked to sit on the other couch, next to Chrom. The Exalt kissed him softly on his cheek as a greeting.

"Pass." Jyne declared.

"Can we start? I'm starving." Lissa complained. She was sitting next to Frederick on a third, smaller couch, but they were far less informal than the two couples -of lovers-.

"I thought you had already started. Now I feel bad for making you wait…" The tactician looked guilty.

"I thought you just had to deliver the tactics to Cordelia." Frederick said, getting up and starting to serve the tea. Chrom's teacup was the first to be filled up.

Once Jyne had brought everything, she had slumped on the couch and declared she was free until that night and wouldn't serve anyone except Katerina. The knight had frowned intensely at that lack of formality, but a quick nudge from Lissa, and Chrom's and Katerina's snicker stopped him from voicing his reprimands against the handmaiden.

"Yes. But she also wanted me to think of possible variations under specific attacks so she could train them for unexpected reinforcements. I had to improvise a couple of alternatives on the spot…" The tactician sighed.

He accepted the teacup Frederick was offering him, and then the man poured one for himself, having finished serving everyone else. Robin cautiously sniffed the drink and sipped it. It tasted wonderful and his body didn't seem to reject it. He sighed softly in relief. The food that had been brought was mostly sweet rolls and cupcakes, with some sandwiches with salmon and chicken and several cups full of different kinds of dried fruit and nuts. His stomach growled loudly. Throwing up was bad, but forgetting his meals due to work was even worse.

He grabbed a couple of raisins and some walnuts, and carefully chew on them. His stomach growled, asking for more, and he decided to be brave enough to try the salmon sandwich. Katerina made a comment about a history book she had been reading these days in her free time, and in less than ten seconds tactician and queen were engaged in an intense discussion about northern Feroxi tribes' hunting techniques, and their evolution throughout the last three centuries. Jyne was horrified and pretended to yell. Chrom, amused. Lissa, extremely amused. Frederick found himself having to hold back laughter as well due to the strange topic that had them so absorbed for hours.

* * *

"I'm glad you're feeling better." Lissa told Robin.

After several hours of peaceful conversation and a couple of matches at the game board Robin had developed with Virion (and with which he had crushed both Chrom and Lissa effortlessly), the sun started going down and it would soon be time for dinner. And their little get-together would be over. Robin didn't usually like these kinds of gatherings, but he found himself looking forward the next one. And the food had been great.

"Not really." He admitted, sipping the last of his tea, and leaving the cup on the table. Then he closed his eyes and leaned against Chrom, who put an arm around his waist. "I still don't think I can eat something greasy. And most food at the barracks is some kind of heavy stew or creamy rice."

The tactician didn't need to open his eyes to know that everyone in the room was frowning. Frederick suggested asking the cooks to make him some kind of special diet with less fatty meals, and Lissa agreed without much enthusiasm. Unless they could get to the root of the problem, it would simply continue; but she had been unable to find anything wrong with him. An upset stomach was the most likely possibility, but it had been three weeks since it had started, and he had never been ill for that long, not even during war.

Robin also had the feeling that the cause was somewhere else. It wasn't just the food, but he slept badly too; even worse than usual. He was really tired all the time and frequently dizzy. He threw up half of what he managed to eat, and he was constantly hungry. But the worst part -for him- was probably the fact that his breasts were hurting him randomly and he couldn't bandage his chest as much as he wanted, so he had been forced to wear bigger shirts to hide them.

He scratched his neck softly, wrinkling his nose. Headaches, nausea, hunger, insomnia, chest pain. It was almost as if…

As if…

…As…

His body grew tense in an instant, eyes staring wide at the air, while his fingers unconsciously started to scratch his neck intensely, leaving red marks on his pale skin.

No, no, no, no, no. It couldn't be. It couldn't be. But when had been the last time? Long, too long. Before the wedding? That seemed likely. But he kept a very strict check on dates, how could that happen? The notebook had everything clearly marked. The notebook. The notebook! It was gone, vanished. No, not gone. In Chrom's chamber. He had left it there by accident. I put it on a drawer. So he couldn't have checked anything. He hadn't ever remembered to, with the insomnia, the paperwork and the experiment. That stupid fucking experiment.

He barely realized he was trembling and breathing fast before suddenly getting up and running outside of the room. He heard Chrom and Katerina say something, but the voices seemed to come from very far and he couldn't make out the words. Getting to Chrom's chamber was more important at the moment.

The Exalt had followed him, worried at the sudden change, and entered the chamber a few moments after him. Chrom found the tactician walking around the place with the notebook in his shaking hands, turning the pages with such a strength some of them were partially torn off. He kept counting something over and over within the last three written pages, frantically mumbling to himself in Plegian.

Chrom approached him slowly, trying not to startle the anxious tactician who seemed to be getting worse by the minute.

"Robin, what's wrong?" Chrom whispered, getting closer.

Robin suddenly looked at him, as if he hadn't realized he had entered the chamber. He gave the Exalt an indecipherable look. Then he closed the notebook, threw it onto the fireplace, where it started to burn almost instantaneously; and ran into the bathroom.

Chrom managed to react when he saw him grab a close bucket and start to throw up. He got closer, kneeling next to the Plegian, worried. Robin was shaking like a madman, with tears flowing from his eyes and a panicked expression on his face. Chrom put an arm around him, desperately trying to comfort him, but not knowing where to start.

"Love, what's wrong?" He insisted, but spoke softly.

The tactician didn't say anything for a while, crying. Chrom bit his lip, feeling his own anxiety grow with Robin's silence. The Plegian man tried to breathe deeply and control his sobs, at least enough to talk, and he managed to after a couple of minutes. He didn't look at Chrom when he spoke, his lips trembling.

"I'm pregnant." He rasped, his voice hoarse due to the damage of the acid on his throat.

The Exalt stared at him astonished, but also starting to feel an unknown excitement. He was going to be a father? But before his train of thoughts could keep going on, Robin started to throw up again. Chrom went back to reality and saw that the tactician was everything but excited. He looked anxious and frankly terrified. Chrom gently massaged his back and waited for him to stop. Once it looked the tactician had nothing else to get out, he put the bucket away and helped him clean himself.

The tactician was sobbing and shaking, curled into a ball of anxiety and fear as he hid his face in his hands. Chrom slowly started to hug him, and softly cuddled him against his chest. As childish as it would seem, the soft movement helped Robin calm down, and Chrom actually found it rather endearing and intimate. Robin hugged him back and hid his face against his shoulders, shaking terribly. It broke Chrom's heart to see him in such a panicked state, especially because of something generally seen as positive.

"You can stop it with you want." He assured him.

Knowing that he could have a child with the man he loved most filled him with happiness, and the perspective of losing them so early felt disheartening, but it clearly wasn't worth forcing the man through months of panic attacks. Not to mention than the stress could make him miscarriage anyway.

Chrom felt Robin shake less and his sobs -had- lessen, but the grip of his hands on his back tightened. Robin didn't know what to say. How could he explain the anxiety he felt about the way his body was going to change in the coming months? The anxiety and disgust he had felt every time he had thought of what had happened once he became a teenager?

"It's not that I don't want to." He whispered, sniffling -his nose- "It's just... I don't know what to do..." His voice cracked and Crom instinctively hugged him tighter, trying to provide comfort.

Robin kept talking "It's too much... too sudden... I don't know what to do... I don't know... I don't know..."

His voice was lost in the silence of the bathroom while he kept trembling. Chrom separated himself slightly from Robin, cleaned his tears and kissed his forehead. He felt the tactician relax a bit at the soft touches, and he kept slowly stroking his hair for a while.

Two soft knocks on the door of the room distracted them both.

"Is everything alright, milord?" Fredericks voice sounded through the wooden door of the chamber.

"One moment." Chrom said loudly.

The knight didn't answer back, but he knew he would wait.

The Exalt turned his attention back to his lover, who looked miserable and terribly exhausted. He softly stroked his pale face, watching him close his eyes. It pained Chrom to see him like this.

"Robin, I think you're too stressed to think properly..." He paused, waiting for a reply. The tactician wasn't fond of people criticizing his possible difficulties thinking well enough under obvious amounts of stress; especially if they were right. But Robin didn't even open his eyes at that. Chrom bit his lip, more worried than before "So, how about we take a long -and nice- hot bath, have some warm relaxing infusion and go to sleep? You'll be able to think better -about this- tomorrow."

"...Ok." Robin agreed, but it sounded more like he was too tired to complain than that he actually cared about it at all.

Chrom carried him in his arms and brought him into the wardrobe, which was as big as the bathroom. He left him on some soft pelts and covered him with a blanket, and told him he would be right back. Making sure both the door to the wardrobe and the door to his room were closed, the Exalt opened the door that led to the hallway.

As he had expected, Frederick was there. But also Katerina, Jyne and Lissa. Much to his surprise, his sister tried to sneak in the moment he opened the door.

"Let me go, Chrom! I have to examine him!" She complained the moment he tried to stop her.

"He's fine." Chrom replied, but sounded less sure that he would have liked "He just needs to rest until tomorrow."

Lissa frowned "I'm the healer. Let me in, Chrom."

"Tomorrow." Chrom insisted. "Please, Lissa. He won't be worse, and he's too nervous right now."

Lissa didn't like one bit that his brother was supposedly trying to act as a cleric at the moment, but it was clear that he wouldn't risk agitating the tactician more.

"I'll be here first thing in the morning."

"He needs to rest, so..."

"Morning." She wasn't going to budge.

"Alright. But not too early..." He asked her.

Lissa frowned, which told him she wasn't happy about it, but she would accept."Tell me immediately if something happens!"

"Of course." Her brother promised.

"Is there something we can do...?" Katerina asked him then, worried about her friend.

Chrom looked at her and remembered her, Jyne and Frederick's presence. The knight was waiting orders.

"Actually, yes. We need a hot bath. And a relaxing infusion that can help him sleep."

Frederick bowed and left immediately. The three women left as well, still looking concerned. Chrom went back into the room and checked on Robin. He was in the same position Chrom had left him, looking like he could nod off at any moment. He waited next to his lover until he heard knocks on the door again, and he left the wardrobe to open door. Several servants were waiting with buckets full of hot water and promptly entered the bathroom to get the bath ready. He waited until they were finished and had left. Then he took Robin out of the wardrobe and brought him to the bathroom.

"Is the water hot enough?" Chrom asked.

Robin blinked, as if he had just woken up from a dream, and then he took out a hand and touched the surface. He gave him a small and tired smile.

"Acceptable."

Chrom smiled back, kissed him again on the forehead and helped him undress before undressing himself. They both got inside the water, and Chrom cleaned his hair and his back and kissed him everywhere he could while they relaxed in the water. The rare occasions they bathed together, Robin never let Chrom bathe him like that, embarrassed and knowing he was fully capable of such a thing himself. But he let Chrom pamper him this time.

Once the water started to grow "just" warm (but still hot in Chrom's opinion), they got out and dressed in the first comfortable sleep clothing Chrom managed to find in his wardrobe. Being taller than Robin meant everything was big for the tactician, but he didn't seem to mind the cozy and baggy clothes. They sat down next to the coffee table where the infusion had been left before, with some cupcakes, nuts, and small custard tarts. Chrom noticed Robin was slowly sipping the infusion while staring at the food with distrust.

"You don't have to eat." He assured him.

"I know…" The tactician mumbled. He still took one of the custard tarts and slowly chewed on it "But if I don't eat anything, I'll wake up at night, hungry." He sighed.

Once both of them finished drinking, they got to bed. Robin fell asleep within seconds on Chrom's chest, exhausted but relaxed and feeling Chrom's soft hand playing with his hair.

* * *

 _There was a young girl in front of him. She was smiling bright, her blue hair crowned with a golden tiara that still seemed too big for her head. She ran towards Robin and hugged him tightly, and the tactician hugged her back._

 _The scene changed and she was even younger, playing with a loud boy that kept shaking a branch as a weapon. Then she was older, and Chrom was teaching her how to wield a sword._

 _He saw Katerina with the child, barely three, in her arms, in the carriage next to him while they went through the city as part of some festivity. Marth fell from the sky while Risen attacked. The girl giggled, happy, because Robin had told her a secret in Plegian. She played with his battle figurines making strategies. Chrom fell to the ground, dead, with a dagger of electricity in his chest. The blue haired girl was asleep in Chrom's arms, who looked at her with pride and affection. She was training with other soldiers. She was sad because her father had to go to war again; while Katerina did her best to comfort her. Marth and Chrom, fighting one against the another in the arena with moves that seemed strangely similar. A baby on in his arms with the Brand of the Exalt on her left eye._

 _A single name resonating, over and over._


	11. Chapter 11

Robin opened his eyes slowly. He woke up in a warm bed with Chrom's arm around him protectively, and wearing the softest nightclothes he had touched in his life. He slowly rubbed his face with one of the long sleeves. It felt great.

He sighed. He still felt tired, but Chrom had been right. The shock and the potential dysphoria he could suffer with the body changes had made him panic the day before. He still wasn't very excited about the perspective of having a child, but didn't really feel a strong rejection either. As long as Chrom and the rest still treated him with respect, he felt he could endure it. But he also knew it was only the start of a very annoying pregnancy that was already starting to affect his health. Robin groaned.

Chrom mumbled something and opened his eyes, blinking at the sunlight. He stroked Robin's hair on autopilot, his brain still taking the necessary steps to wake up. Robin almost giggled at that.

"Morning, love." He kissed Robin's hair.

"Morning." He answered, hugging him back.

They went quiet. Robin had the feeling Chrom wanted to ask him about yesterday, but didn't know how to approach the topic given the panicked reaction he had. The tactician, however, was thinking about his dream; or trying to. He seemed to have forgotten all of it in his slow awakening, and he had the feeling it was the last piece of a puzzle he had wondered about for months. It was frustrating having the information so close, yet watching it slip through his fingers while he could do nothing about it. There was only one thing he remembered clearly. He put his face against Chrom's shoulder.

"If it's a girl, I want to call her Lucina."

Chrom looked at him surprised, but clearly excited.

"You'll do it?"

"Yes, yes. You can start smiling now."

Chrom kissed his hair instead, but Robin felt his lips curve upwards. Then the tactician frowned and tried to breathe slowly, feeling the first wave of nausea of the day. Once it was over, he sighed. Chrom looked at him, worried.

"Get used to it." Robin breathed deeply "This is going to suck and we're just starting, trust me."

"I'm here for anything you need." The Exalt promised him.

"You'd better be."

Then he started touching again the fabric of his nightclothes. Chrom noticed it.

"You really like that."

Robin stopped and felt himself blush a little in embarrassment. "Yeah, it's really soft."

"You can have it if you want."

"Really?!" The tactician's voice had sounded more excited than he had planned.

Chrom found it adorable. "Of course. I have more anyway. But it may be better to make you one smaller."

"No, no, it's fine! It's more comfortable sleeping in bigger clothes."

A strong knock on the door startled both of them. And it didn't come from the chamber's door, but the bedroom's. Chrom and Robin looked at each other in panic for a few seconds, thinking a random servant had entered the chambers, before a voice came through the wood.

"It's me, Chrom. Open up!"

Right, Lissa had told Chrom she'd be there the next day to check on Robin. The Exalt walked to the door and let her enter. She was already fully dressed, despite being a little early, and had brought with her a staff, some potions and several medical tools. But Robin, who was paler than usual, talked before she could approach him.

"I'm going to vomit in, like, five seconds."

Chrom was the first one to react, running to the bathroom area and bringing a bucket. Robin threw up almost as soon as he had it between his hands. Lissa watched with a frown, carefully examining Robin. He seemed to have lost some weight that last month, despite not being at war anymore.

"Chrom, leave. I'm going to examine him." Lissa said very seriously once Robin had finished and cleaned himself.

"Not necesary." The tactician replied, giving the dirty bucket to Chrom.

Lissa's frown deepened and she stared at Robin. "I am the cleric, and I will—"

"I'm pregnant, Lissa." He interrupted her.

Robin could almost see painted on her face how her train of thought brutally crashed and the pieces of the puzzle slowly fell into place in the ten seconds she simply stared at the wall with her mouth opened.

" Oh ."

She looked at Robin and then at Chrom, who was blushing and looked like he didn't know if he should feel nervous or embarrassed, and then at Robin again. The tactician decided it was time for him to take charge.

"Can you bring me a ginger tea with pegasus tail?" He figured the small trip to the kitchen would help her process the news a bit better.

"Sure, but… Pegasus tail is probably too strong for you right now." She gave him a worried look.

"Use the leaves instead of the flower. They're milder."

"I've never heard of that. Are you completely sure?"

"My mother was a midwife, and I had to help her from time to time. I know about this as much as you, if not more. No offense. It will be fine if you use the leaves."

Both Chrom and Lissa stared at him in surprise when he said that, but the cleric nodded and left the room to get the infusion. Chrom got closer to Robin and sat next to him, putting an arm around his waist while Robin leaned on his chest. The Exalt's excitement at the news had passed, and he could see clearly how tired Robin looked like even without the anxiety of the previous day. His face was thinner, and while his muscles had never been as developed as the ones of the more physically focused members of the Shepherds, he could see his arms were thinner than usual. Chrom kissed his temple and held held his hand.

"You look tired."

"I am." Robin admitted. "I guess not eating for a month and half does that to you."

Chrom frowned and rested his head on Robin's shoulder, wondering for the first time if this was truly a good idea.

"You look like you're going to a funeral." He heard Robin say. "Throwing up always makes me exhausted. Don't put on that face, I'll be fine. Now we can find something I can actually eat."

Chrom nodded, still feeling a little worried about him, but he also felt something warm inside. The feelings of pride and happiness he had briefly felt last night when Robin told him the news were surfacing again. The Halidom was in peace, everyone was recovering, the council wasn't on his back anymore because he had finally married and he was going to have a child with the person he actually loved. And Robin, if uncomfortable and weak, didn't look like he was going to suffer another breakdown. Chrom let himself feel happy with the news.

"You're giggling like a kid." The tactician's voice brought him back to reality. He was staring at him, with a smaller smile on his face as well.

"I know." The Exalt answered. "I'm just… really happy." He felt his face growing warmer again. He had the feeling a part of him didn't completely believe it yet.

Lissa returned a few moments later with the herbal tea, and gave it to the tactician. Robin slowly started to sip it, making sure his stomach was able to hold it. She sat at the other side of the tactician and held his free hand as if she was giving him her support.

"Robin, are you okay?" She asked, very seriously.

"I'm tired and possibly malnourished."

"I know, I can fix that. I mean, are you mentally okay?"

Robin drank a little bit more from his mug while noticing how both Lissa and Chrom there were grabbing his hand and shoulder a bit tighter in support. He couldn't blame them for being so worried after seeing the panic he had went through the last day, especially when not even war had been enough to make him freak out that much.

"Yeah. I was shocked, mostly. I also have… very vague memories of my mother making me promise her I would never have children." He frowned, trying to recall the faint event. "But she never told me why, or at least I don't remember it."

"Perhaps because of some kind of hereditary illness?" Chrom tried.

Lissa frowned. "That would be strange. You're healthy. Healthier than the rest of the Shepherds, in fact."

Chrom looked at his sister surprised, but Robin shrugged.

"I don't hate this or anything, I just never thought about it and it was sudden. I'll live." He assured her.

"Alright. Also, I'll have to tell this to Frederick, Katerina and Jyne. And that means I'll have to tell them about you."

"Sure. Use the pegasus guards example I told you."

"Pegasus guards?" Chrom asked.

"There's some pegasus guards who are transgender. Like me, but the opposite; people who were treated as males but are actually women. And the animals notice it, so they accept them as riders. And since pegasi can be quite picky about their riders, apparently the Ylissean pegasus guard decided they couldn't lose potential recruits, so they accepted them. But it's the only place I've found transgender people are accepted and recognized in Ylisse."

"That's why you're nervous around pegasi? Because they don't like you?" Lissa asked.

Robin groaned. "More like they try to kill me. The first and last time I approached a pegasus without a woman close to me, it kicked me in the head and left me unconscious for three days. If for some unholy reason I have to do something at the pegasus stables, I make sure Sumia and Cordelia are as close as possible. Those animals look at me with daggers in their eyes."

The pegasi dislike for men was well known, but that sounded extreme. Not even Chrom ever had such a big problem with the animals. Robin just shrugged at him. There wasn't anything he could do about it.

Lissa questions seemed to be over, and looked at him and nodded, satisfied with his answers. She got up from the bed and walked a couple of steps before turning to them again.

"Chrom, come here." She ordered her brother.

He looked at her confused, but obeyed and approached her. She threw herself onto his arms and hugged him strongly while smiling.

"Robin's not feeling well enough to suffer me, so you'll have to bear with this instead! Congrats, Chrom, Robin!"

Chrom blushed and hugged her back, while Robin just sipped his drink in silence, but smiling as well. Given that Chrom had married Katerina and she was the one expected to bear a child, Lissa's mind hadn't thought of any other possible candidate to give birth to her brother's child. Her brother's. She was going to be an aunt!

"Ok! I'll tell Frederick, Katerina and Jyne!" Lissa said, smiling widely. "And he'll bring you breakfast soon."

"Fine." Robin agreed "But I want to eat in peace. Nobody come here until an hour has passed."

Lissa giggled. "You know how Jyne is going to react."

"Too well." Robin sighed.

Lissa left and an edible breakfast was soon brought to Chrom's chamber. Then Lissa took Frederick with her and they went looking for Jyne and Katerina, and took them to a private place to deliver the news.

Robin was actually feeling good enough to get up after drinking the infusion and resting a little, so he did, stretched and took Chrom's hand.

"Come on, future dad, let's eat something." Chrom smiled at his words and let him guide them to the tray of food that had been set on the small table in the room. Chrom sat next to him and softly kissed his temple, which earned him a smile from the tactician.

Lucina sounded like a good name.

* * *

When the hour Robin had asked for had passed, they all went to Chrom's chamber. Both of them were sitting on a couch, Robin reading a book while Chrom shot glances at the paperwork that was waiting for him on the desk, not really wanting to get up and do it.

Chrom tensed when he heard them enter, both startled that a servant would just enter without waiting for permission and conscious that if someone saw them there could be trouble. But Robin didn't even look up from his book, having correctly guessed that Frederick and Jyne had taken complete control of whatever schedule was reserved for that room; probably for the whole day.

The tactician gasped in surprised when Jyne suddenly ran to him, picked him up and twirled him around, much to everyone's astonishment.

"Robiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin, you're amazing, and I love you, and I'd kiss you if you wouldn't stab me right after!" She declared.

"Put me back on the ground this instant or my elbow will 'accidentally' land on your face." He declared, unamused.

The handmaiden did as told, but kept staring at him while giggling foolishly, as if she had won a lifetime supply of meat. Robin rolled his eyes.

"I thought we all agreed to do what we had." He replied to her.

"Of course!" She said "Buuuuuuuut now we have an alternative that's much better!"

"For you."

"Guilty as charged!" Jyne admitted without the slightest shame.

"What are you talking about?" Chrom asked, voicing everyone else's confusion.

Robin sighted. "Since apparently I'm the one that's going to bring the next Exalt into the world, there's no longer any need for our married couple here to do their duty as such." That was the translation.

Chrom and Katerina's faces reddened at the implied meaning of those words. Robin just sighed again and sat back next to Chrom. He looked at the sky through the window, pensive for a few seconds.

"I'm fairly sure I'm supposed to be at a meeting with Lyonel right now."

"That jerk? Forget him." Jyne replied, annoyed.

Katerina didn't say anything, but her expression clearly stated that she agreed with the sentiment. The rest of the Ylisseans present thought similar as well. Lyonel was infamous for being quite intolerant with anyone that wasn't from the capital or around. He disapproved of Katerina for being from a lowly noble family, and probably because one of his nieces had been elegible for Chrom to marry. And he greatly disapproved of the tactician for being Plegian, which only made him wear his dark robes more proudly. He had even been terrible to Emmeryn as well in her reigning years, not so unsubtly trying to be regent while she was younger. He wasn't loved by most, but his lineage gave him a powerful position in the Council.

"Don't even think of going. You need to rest." Chrom warned, serious.

"I will inform the Council of your absence." Frederick guaranteed.

"Don't worry, I don't feel like going there only to throw up on his papers." Robin shrugged, but then he stared at the air and squinted. "Or do I…?"

"If you do, you'll have my full support and will be my hero forever." The handmaiden declared.

"I won't complain too much." Lissa admitted, frowning.

"Tempting…" The tactician admitted, but then saw Chrom and Frederick's stern faces "But I guess it's better if I rest."

Frederick and Chrom left for the meeting and the rest started talking about how to proceed from then on. Katerina had to start faking the symptoms as soon as possible, while Jyne helped her keep up the farce. They also needed a calm place where they could be for the last months of gestation with as few people as possible. It would be impossible to avoid a very serious scandal if the male tactician of the Shepherds and Exalt's close friend happened to give birth to a child with the Brand of the Exalt and potentially suspicious dark blue hair. And Robin liked quietness, avoiding civil wars and being around as few people as possible.

Lissa suggested the eastern castle, where they had tried to bring Emmeryn after the assassination attempt. It was small, and at the moment had the minimum people needed to run it: a cook, the constable, half a dozen of servants, and two small troops of infantry and cavalry. They were all greatly trusted, since they had complete control of the place most of the time. The palace was mostly a summer residence, after all; and Ylissean royalty was there scarcely, if at all. Robin liked that. He still wanted to check if they were open minded and discreet enough, and asked for a complete report of every single one of them. That loyalty and trust was a good start; in the worst possible scenario, they could send them back to the capital for the time being while bringing their own people with them.

Once Chrom was back from the meeting, he and Robin stayed in the room together the rest of the day, and the tactician slept in the royal chambers again. But the next day, he went back to the barracks and carried on with his usual duties the best he could on his condition. It would be strange if he completely disappeared from the Shepherds' barracks to stay constantly at the castle all of a sudden.

* * *

 **It's been a while, but here you have the next part! And GOD it was so hard to do. I fully rewrote this three times!**


	12. Chapter 12

It wasn't long before the temperatures started to fall and the wind started to blow with such strength most archers had trouble shooting and most pegasus riders had trouble flying. The change of seasons wouldn't have been noteworthy beyond finishing the last harvesting and watching the leaves turning orange and yellow if the climate hadn't gone crazy for several weeks, showing warm, sunny days that alternated with cold downpours almost on a daily basis. The farmers barely had time to gather everything from the fields before it could rot away, saving the harvest, and the country from food shortage that winter.

A week and a half of unstable weather had passed when Robin opened his eyes in his room one morning and instantly knew he was sick. His head hurt, he had trouble breathing through his nose, his throat hurt, and he was shivering despite being covered with a couple of thick blankets. He groaned and tried to bury himself into his sheets, but it was useless. He kept feeling cold.

He wondered for a few seconds whether having a headache and a sore throat was worse than the usual morning sickness or not before his body decided to give him the answer: both at once. He got out of the bed in a second and ran to the bathroom. Once he finished and had cleaned himself, he put on his warmer usual clothes and sat on the bed, weighing if he should stay inside a few more minutes to rest.

A knock on the door distracted him, and he suddenly remembered Lissa went to his room to check up on him every morning before the rest of the Shepherds woke up. He grimaced at the noise, but got up and went to see her.

"Morn—!" She gasped when she saw him, and stared worried at him. "Gods, Robin, you look awful! What happened?"

"Do I?" He asked, briefly confused.

Then he realized he hadn't even tried to wash his face or comb his hair yet. And that he had put his shirt inside out. And that his face was either paler because of his morning sickness or darker because of the fever. Or both at once, if it was possible. Was it even possible? He decided he wasn't going to think about it.

"Bed, now." Lissa stated, interrupting his thoughts.

"It's just a cold." He replied, but got away from the door and let her in. "I don't feel that bad."

"I'm the cleric here." She replied, frowning at how suddenly everyone around her insisted on knowing illnesses better than her.

She closed the door after her and took his wrists to check the pulse once he laid down. She also put a hand on his forehead to check his temperature and asked him about what hurt and how.

"Mhm, I think you _do_ have a small cold. You should be fine if you rest for a couple of days." She declared.

"As I said." He grumbled.

Lissa frowned at that, but didn't say anything. Instead, she got up from the chair she had sat and checked the papers over it.

"There is a council meeting in a couple of hours, isn't it? I'll give the papers about your report to Frederick so he can replace you." She promised.

"What? Why? I can go, I'm not that sick!"

"You still need to recover lost weight and I know for a fact that you are working more than you should instead of resting like I told you to. And your work is something Frederick did well enough before you arrived, Ylisse didn't collapse before you came to the Shepherds."

"But with me, things are better." He replied. "I can go to the meeting and then come back here to rest."

"Frederick is good enough." She argued, frowning at him.

"And I'm better!"

" _Good_. _Enough_ ."

"Fine, fine! I'll stay here all day bored out of my mind!"

Lissa got up and intentionally patted his abdomen. "You need to take care of yourself, not only for your sake."

"I know, but my statement still stands." He replied.

"Don't you have anything to do here?" She asked, surprised.

"I've almost finished the tactics book I'm reading, and with the fever I can't focus enough to play strategy games with Virion, much less train or something like that for obvious reasons. And while I'll probably take a nap, I'm not sleeping the whole day."

She smiled at him, more understanding. "I can bring you a book from the library, if you want."

"Then bring me the next volume of the tactic collection I'm researching rig—"

"No work!"

Robin glared at her, but Lissa frowned back with equal stubbornness. He gave up.

"Wyvern Wars, volume four. Ask Sumia about it."

Lissa frowned slightly at the title, but if Sumia knew about it, it was unlikely to be a dry explanation about strategic war. She nodded and left the room with the papers for Frederick.

* * *

One hour later, Jyne entered Robin's room without knocking. She frowned when she saw him sitting on his desk reading the strategy book. He looked a little startled by her interruption, but didn't complain. Since she was the one that would bring him food he could eat, it was better if she simply sneaked into his room as fast as possible, without anyone seeing her. Robin had told her about the secret corridors that travelled through the castle walls so she could avoid the Shepherds without having to go through the canteen.

"Our cleric said no work for you." She announced to the tactician while putting the food and drink on the desk.

"I had to do something while I waited for you to arrive, and I wasn't going to try to sleep knowing you could wake me up at any moment and give me a heart attack."

He took the cup with the infusion and stopped to smell it once he realized it wasn't tea.

"Valerian with ginger. It will help you sleep and fight that cold." She explained. "Chrom almost went crazy when Lissa told him you were sick until she explained it was just a cold. It was actually adorable."

Robin rolled his eyes. It was just a cold; he wasn't dying. Then he tried the infusion and grimaced. It tasted awful.

"Are you sure this is edible?"

"Lissa's the boss." Jyne shrugged, but looked relieved she wasn't the one drinking that.

Robin decided to eat the apple instead, and leave the drink to cool until he could drink it in one sitting.

"Why did it take you so long? I'm actually hungry, despite the morning sickness."

"Lissa was waiting for Sumia to take the book out of the library for you." The handmaiden took out a book from her small side bag and gave it to Robin.

He grabbed it and looked interested at the cover, nodded to himself and set it over the strategy book. He kept eating while telling Jyne the plot of the saga. She was interested until she knew it was eight books long.

"Couldn't the author tell the story in just one book?" She asked with a grimace. Se didn't dislike reading, but that was too much.

Robin snorted.

"Then I guess you won't be interested in the Mad Tales of a Bloodthirsty Falcon Knight saga Sumia is reading right now."

"Sounds fine. How many books you're talking about?"

"Thirty-seven."

"You _are_ shitting me!" She looked horrified.

But Robin shook his head with a grin on his face. "Ask her about it if you don't believe me."

Jyne looked like she was actually considering asking Sumia about it the half an hour it took Robin to finish eating. Then she left the room with the dishes and reminded him to rest. Robin waved a hand in her direction, dismissively.

The drink had been awful, but it had helped him warm up and he was feeling tired again, so he closed the window to darken the room, took out the robes and put them over the blankets and then got inside the bed. He fell asleep a few minutes later.

* * *

When Chrom knocked the door of Robin's room, he didn't expect Sumia to open it. She seemed to be equally surprised for a few seconds before smiling and stepping aside to let him enter. The tactician was sitting at his bed with a blanket over is legs, drinking some tea Sumia seemed to have brought, while the pegasus knight was using the only chair in the room. Robin lazily greeted Chrom doing a strange wave with the fingers of his free hand.

"You've come to see Robin, right?"

"Yes." He answered. "Lissa told me this morning he was sick."

"I'm fine!" Robin rolled his eyes and stared at him. "I took a nap and when I woke up I didn't even have a fever anymore! I was reading until Sumia came an hour ago to keep me company."

"We were talking about Wyvern Wars! I got the book for him this morning and he's already read half of it. You read incredibly fast." She told Robin, amazed.

But Robin just groaned. "It's easy to read fast when everyone around you doesn't let you do anything else."

"You're sick. You need to rest." Chrom sternly told him.

Robin grunted, but didn't reply. Then Sumia, looking slightly restless, announced it was her turn to feed the pegasus and left, while trying to avoid Chrom's gaze.

"Feel free to come back tomorrow and save me from staring at the walls of my room." Robin said just before she left.

Sumia giggled. "I'll give Lissa the next book in the morning, and see if I can see you before dinner."

"Please and thank you."

She left the room, closing the door behind her, and Robin sighed.

"Poor girl. I hope she can get over her crush soon. She deserves better."

Hearing that made Chrom stare at him in surprised. "What? Crush?"

Robin stared back, unfazed. "Yes, crush. On you. That's why she left the moment you stepped inside."

"She… has a crush on me?!"

"And Cordelia. Incredibly obvious ones, too."

" _What?!_ "

Robin looked at Chrom and, realizing his surprise was absolutely genuine, he shook his head and took a sip from his teacup.

"I think I'm starting to understand how you didn't realize my also very obvious crush until I had you pinned against the bed."

Chrom blushed when he heard that, and frowned at the tactician.

"You didn't seem to notice mine, either." He complained.

"You didn't seem to notice your own."

That didn't seem to go too well. Chrom decided to change the subject.

"And what do you mean it's an obvious crush?"

"Well," Robin started, "besides the fact that during the war against Plegia they took every excuse they could to talk to you, and that they were always trying to get your attention to what they did so you praised them, and that when I paired you up in battle they seemed to be going to explode in excitement and nervousness at once, and—"

"Ok, fine, I get it!" Chrom interrupted, blushing furiously. Listening to how evident their behaviour had been, and how oblivious he had been in turn, made the explanation incredibly embarrassing to the new king.

Robin had to stop himself from smiling, amused. "Well, besides all that, the day after your proposal to Kate, she came to my room to cry, and I had to comfort her and convince her she wasn't a bad person for feeling jealous. At least, until she hit someone with a chair." He made a brief pause. "It was awkward, but she was too upset to notice anything strange with me."

Chrom frowned at the door, looking worried. "I did notice recently she had been avoiding me a little, but I didn't think she would be that upset."

"She's better, and she's trying, but it still hurts her to be around you without something important going on. That's why I tried to tell her to talk with Gaius or Frederick, so she could get over you and cheer up."

"…Are you playing matchmaker with my soldiers?"

"I would never! I'm just trying to help!" Robin replied, but the soft blush of embarrassment on his cheeks told Chrom otherwise.

Chrom raised his eyebrows at the tactician.

"Anyway, she's slowly getting better. It will go away on its own soon, hopefully."

Chrom sighed and sat on the bed next to the tactician, leaning his head on his shoulder and hugging his waist.

"Well, I'm glad to see you are resting like Lissa said you needed."

"I know my limits and try not to cross them, unlike Frederick."

The comparison made Chrom smile. Robin was still a little upset at their insistence on taking care of him. He kissed his hair.

"I hope you know you're amazing." He declared.

Robin blushed and stared at him, confused and surprised.

"Wha…? Why… where's this coming from all of a sudden?!"

"It's the truth. One I think you should hear more frequently."

The tactician was lost for words and just sat there, blushing intensely. Chrom chuckled and kissed him again. He grabbed his hand softly, and Robin pressed his, accepting his words. He felt Chrom's smile against his neck.

* * *

Katerina's acting sick for several days and Lissa's supposed check up after a week and half were the start of the quickly spreading news about the royal pregnancy. Once the Shepherds knew about it, they insisted on throwing a proper celebration in the barracks, and basically forced Chrom to eat dinner with them and stay awake most of the night drinking. There were far more jokes about how _fast_ Katerina had gotten pregnant he had thought there would be. But then again, what could he expect from Vaike?

Robin skipped the celebration, not feeling like vomiting all over everyone's dinner. No one bothered him too much about it. His recent cold and the fact that he seemed to have a sensitive stomach after the war were reason enough to let him rest. And that, for once, he was willingly taking care of himself, instead of having the Shepherds pester him until he stopped. The tactician did tell Lissa to congratulate Chrom for him when she went with the others, and she almost snorted at the irony.

It was two days later after that night Robin decided he had to talk with Miriel, and left his room a little after dinner to go see her. She didn't seem surprised when she opened the door and saw him standing there, and let him enter. Robin sat on one of the two chairs of her room, and briefly wondered if he should think of getting another one himself before speaking.

"Miriel, there is something important I have to tell you, but it can wait if you are busy right now."

She adjusted her glasses, thinking. "I'm finishing a paper on my latest experiment. If you could wait a few more minutes, you would have my full attention."

Robin nodded and gave her space at her desk. She continued writing with elegant lettering while Robin started fidgeting with the golden cords of his robes.

"You're behaviour indicates you are distressed. Is it because of the news or because how you believe it will affect me?" She said, looking at him, once she finished.

Robin stopped and looked away. He pressed his lips and looked around the room. Then he sighed.

"The second one, I guess… It's not bad news, but… it's delicate."

"I see. I'm listening."

"Well… Do you remember that day when I got very badly hurt during battle and… I didn't let anyone help me except Lissa and you?"

"Indeed. Since Plegians have explored gender identity to a much greater degree than Ylisse, you were understandably worried about the Shepherds reaction if it was found that your physical physiognomy is not the one of an average Ylissean male, and how they would treat you after it was found out. It was a wonderful discovery to me; neither my mother nor I ever thought of gender beyond what the body seems to show. But, of course, limiting your knowledge to something as restricted as the human body would be—"

"Yes, yes! I know, but that's know what I'm here for!" Robin interrupted her, fearing she would start rambling. "What I meant is…"He sighed and decided to be blunt. "I have breasts. And the whole set, really. Yes?"

"Indeed." Miriel replied. Even if her face didn't show clearly her feelings, Robin could see she was starting to feel confused about what he was trying to say.

"Alright. And you know I've been sick recently. Like, sick for weeks , longer than a month and half." She nodded, worried this time. "And that the Queen has also feeling sick for some time know…"

Miriel fell silent several minutes. Robin waited until she was done thinking, not wanting to interrupt her. He tried to appear calm, but the fast beating of his chest and his fidgeting hands betrayed him.

"However," Miriel started talking, startling Robin "The Queen's… 'sickness' did not start until a month after yours."

"I… did not know the reason for my sickness yet back then…" He explained.

"I see… That implies it is not the Queen that is actually expecting a child, but you. That would suggest the fact that she is, for some reason, covering for you. But that would make no sense, for there is no relationship between both of you besides your first meeting at the ball, therefore the link must lie somewhere else."

Robin sat in silence, staring at the walls of her room while she closed her eyes in deep concentration.

"The Queen is not expecting a child, but you are. One you must hide, but she must not. Or, even, she must have. Therefore, _you_ are the one that is bringing the new heir of the Halidom to the world, which would make you Chrom's lover." Robin was relieved to hear her tone had no bite, but Miriel didn't stop there. "It would be impossible for her to cover you like that unless she is fine with that fact, and it would also be impossible to hide this properly unless a partial healer knew about it, wich means Lissa is also aware of this relationship. It seems unlikely that her handmaiden wouldn't notice anything strange with the behaviour of her lady unless she knows about it as well. Lissa is the only healer whose presence you allow when you need to be examined, and the only one that examined the Queen as well. In conclusion, you are pregnant with Chrom's child, but since you are not supposed to have a child and the Queen is, she's covering for you with the help of a healer that has both of your trust. Am I correct?"

Robin sighed heavily. "To the last point. You just missed Frederick."

"Ah, of course. I wasn't entirely sure if his help would be necessary, but it is probably welcomed. That would explain the fact that he seems to give Sully and Vaike twice as many tasks to do whenever any of them try to force you to train with them due to your recent muscle loss."

Robin grimaced when he heard that, remembering how insistent they were. The tactician himself tried to train even if he was sick, unless he got seriously hurt, so they had shrugged his cold off and told him he would feel better after training for a while. Robin had run out of excuses to avoid them and had to lock himself up in his room several times.

"Would you mind too much if I went to your room to hide sometimes? They're not as insistent since Frederick started stepping in, but…" Robin asked, without thinking.

"Of course. You could help me with my experiments, or continue your own work. But there is something I want to ask."

"Yes?"

"Why did you tell me? It looks like an unnecessary risk to me."

Robin sighed. "First of all, for the same reason I asked you to heal me with Lissa that first time: _I_ didn't tell you anything. You just thought about it for ten seconds and got everything right. I knew it was very possible you would end up realizing it on your own, and while I belive you would have talked to me first… Well, nobles here are very picky about blue blood, and I wanted to minimize risks."

"An understandable measure." Miriel nodded, pleased at his foresight.

"And also… you are my friend, Miriel. A great friend. I can't say I like hiding this from you. Hiding this from all the Shepherds… But I obviously can't just drop something like that when we're all living in a castle full of nobles, so I thought of doing this little by little. And since you're a great friend, extremely intelligent, and you can keep secrets, you were my first step."

"I see…" She adjusted her glasses and frowned slightly, but smiled. Robin realized she was embarrassed. "Your words are certainly considerate. I did not expect you would find me such an exceptional confidant. I'm… honored."

Robin smiled at her. "Of course you are."

Miriel nodded. "In that case, feel free to bring your work here tomorrow. I will make sure both of us have enough space to work on our respective tasks."

"Thank you, Miriel. Really."

* * *

 **And here's another one! I really enjoyed writing this one, despite (or because of?) being sick the morning I did it.**


	13. Chapter 13

The news about Chrom and his wife going to the eastern castle until the pregnancy was over caused a great stir among the Shepherds, since many of them insisted on accompanying them to make sure they would be safe. Chrom replied that they were supposed to do this to make sure the situation was the least stressful it could possibly be, and having all of them go wouldn't help at all. Only Lissa, Frederick and Robin would travel next to the carriage for protection. There were some protests as why Robin of all people was going with them.

"There aren't many troops at the eastern castle. If we suffer an attack we'll need a good strategy." Robin answered, his hand twitching for a moment while he stopped himself from stroking his belly. Four months had already passed and he had started to button the purple robe to hide the pregnancy better, but soon it wouldn't be enough.

"But if we all go, that won't be necessary!" Sully argued.

The tactician raised an eyebrow.

"And leave the capital defenseless?"

"Cordelia's recruits can do it in our absence."

The pegasus knight frowned at the suggestion.

"They have only been training for five months. I don't doubt they could protect this place in an emergency, but…"

"But leaving this place without most veterans is a stupid risk." Robin finished the sentence for her. "Soldier training lasts three years, it's too soon for them and we've barely started to rebuild the pegasus squadrons."

Sully frowned.

"I hate it when you're right."

"This is not a negotiation or a proposal." Chrom interrupted them, sighting. "It's an order. You will all stay here, are we clear?"

There was some grumbling, but nobody complained openly. Maribelle arrived right at that moment, having gone to see Katerina to give her some advice for when the moment to give birth arrived. Lissa took the chance to excuse herself and go to her chamber to get her things ready for the journey they'd start the next day. Robin did the same.

He heard a knock on the door some hours later, once he had almost finished packing. He opened it, expecting Miriel or perhaps Frederick; but to his surprise, he found Tharja staring at him. The tactician stared back, confused by her presence. He was about to ask if there was something she wanted when the dark mage extended her hand and offered him something that looked like a charm. He took it, confused.

"It's a talisman." Tharja explained in neutral voice. "I hexed it. There's something dark within you, but it should protect the baby when it's born."

Robin stared at her with a mix of surprise and fear. She stared back at him blankly.

"No, the others don't know. Ylisseans are too stupid when it comes to gender, and you did a good job hiding it." She gave him a creepy smile. "I wasn't sure myself until I checked it with my dark magic."

He stared at her, absolutely speechless. "Uh…"

"And I know how stupid nobles are in this country. Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank… you?" Robin was having trouble processing the situation.

"If something happens to you, I'll curse Chrom for the rest of his life." Tharja promised in a low voice.

Robin frowned, his uneasiness at her gone and replaced with irritation.

"If something happens to me, it will not be his fault."

The dark mage stared back at him, impassive. "I don't understand what the hell you see in him." She muttered in Plegian.

"And I don't understand what the hell you see in me when we barely even talk." He replied in the same language.

Tharja looked at him, surprised.

Robin raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I didn't think you would know Plegian, even if you speak it with a strange accent."

"Why would I not know Plegian?"

The dark mage pressed her lips and looked down, as if she was trying to think of the best way to explain it.

"You don't have a Plegian accent at all. I didn't think you would have lived there."

"I didn't live there, but my mother was Plegian. She taught me… At least, I think."

"You think?"

"I have amnesia. I don't remember much from my past."

She frowned when she heard that. "I see… Perhaps that is for the best."

"What do you know about it?" Robin tensed when he heard that, forgetting about the Plegian language in an instant.

"Nothing." She answered sincerely. She slowly raised her hand and slid it up his arm, touching the fabric of his robes. "But I know the person that wears this would never give it away willingly. So, whatever you've forgotten, it's probably not very nice."

Robin didn't answer. The little he remembered certainly wasn't very nice. He breathed deeply, not wanting to think about it.

"Alright. Anything else?"

"No. Have a safe journey."

The dark mage left and Robin sighed. He went back to his luggage.

* * *

They departed the next day. Everyone at the capital had gathered to bid farewell to their beloved Exalt, and the streets were full of people smiling and throwing flowers. Chrom, Katerina and Lissa were inside the main carriage, flanked by Frederick and Robin, both of them on horse. After them, another carriage followed with the other four servants Robin had gathered to help them on the other castle. One of them even had two mothers, one being a transgender woman that had been helped by a Plegian refugee more than ten years ago. Some Shepherds were guarding the carriages as well, and they followed until they arrived at the wall that protected the capital.

They continued slowly for a few hours, until the castle could no longer be seen from the horizon. Then they stopped and Robin got inside the main carriage, sighing with relief after getting down from the horse. He fell asleep almost immediately in Chrom's arms, exhausted. Katerina was quite excited to ride the horse instead, much to Frederick's worry; but she proved to be skilled enough to not delay their journey at all.

They arrived at the castle three days later, and were welcomed by Jyne. She had gone there first to start preparing things around the building and informing the servants in there about the situation. She guided them to their rooms, and Robin basically dropped onto Chrom's bed and refused to get up.

Frederick was fast to check everything was running properly around the castle and established a routine. The next day Chrom went to greet the troops that were there; went to the office and left his paperwork on the desk. Robin took possession of Chrom's chamber's desk for his own papers, and Lissa started planning with the servants they had brought and choosing a good room to prepare for the day the baby arrived.

The change in environment proved to be beneficial almost immediately, and Robin was clearly more relaxed and slept better; adapting quickly to the new routine in which he no longer had to worry about hiding and being discovered. He had been more stressed than he had realized.

* * *

Days grew cold as time passed, and once winter arrived, the castle was soon covered by a thin layer of snow that made Robin smile every time he saw it. Having lived in Regna Ferox most of his life, snow was almost a constant presence, except for late spring and the summer. But Ylisse was much warmer than it's neighbour, and Robin welcomed the cold like an old friend. Katerina and Jyne, however, were having more trouble adapting, having lived in a much warmer place until then.

"How can you stand this?" Jyne groaned, pouring tea into Robin's teacup.

Chrom had gotten up early to train with the soldiers there, and Frederick had gone with him. But Robin's belly was starting to get big, and he was having trouble sleeping, so he always stayed in bed a few more hours hoping he could catch up on some sleep. Jyne would prepare him a small breakfast once he got up, and Katerina and Lissa would join them unless there was some urgent paperwork Robin had to do.

Robin stared at Jyne. She was wearing a thick dress and a shawl, and her lady was wearing similar clothes, though hers looked more expensive and probably protected a bit better from the cold. Both of them were sitting as close to the fireplace as possible.

"You just need to put more clothes on. And besides, it's not that cold yet."

"You have to be kidding me!"

"He's right." Lissa intervined. "Winter is just starting. It'll get a lot colder in a month."

Jyne stared at them with horror and Katerina looked as if she was going to faint.

"This is just a little cold. Regna Ferox has real winters." Robin shook his head in disapproval for their weakness to the weather.

"I can live without them!" Jyne replied.

Robin chuckled and Lissa laughed, but said nothing, sparing the two poor women that clearly weren't enjoying the coldness of the room. Jyne had forgotten to light the fireplace of the room where they usually eat breakfast together and was paying the consequences. It hadn't warmed up yet.

"The worst thing about this is that I won't be able to have a snowball fight. I have the feeling I always try to have at least one each year." The tactician lamented, unconsciously stroking his now visible belly.

"I've never been in one." Katerina said, with a face that showed that if it was going to be this cold, she'd rather never be in one.

"You still have those? Chrom always tells me I'm too old for them now." Lissa complained.

"Yes, because I use them as a training. Pretend that each snowball is a spear or a dagger and that you'll be dead if they hit you too many times or in a fatal place. It's a great way to improve your agility and accuracy, and how to move fast in difficult conditions."

"How can you turn everything into a training session?" Lissa asked, not that excited about the snowball fight anymore.

"Because that's how you get away doing things most people would consider childish and improper." Robin winked at her.

"… I'll keep that in mind."

Robin finished his food and started reading a book he had brought from his room. Lissa did the same with her own book and Katerina and Jyne just cuddled in front of the fireplace. They all fell into a comfortable silence while the snow kept slowly falling from the sky and time passed. It was lunchtime when Chrom and Frederick entered the room,clothes already changed, and looking satisfied after their training. Katerina roused, startled and drowsy after having fallen asleep on Jyne's lap. Frederick apologized for having startled them while Chrom chuckled. He got close to Robin and softly kissed his hair. He blushed furiously, but didn't complain. All of them got up and went to small dining room with a table big enough for all of them to eat lunch together.

* * *

"Are you sure you'll be fine?"

Robin almost rolled his eyes so hard he could see inside this skull. Not again.

"We've been here for a month already and literally nothing has happened. And Lissa will stay here. I'll be fine."

And if something does happen, you won't be of much help. The tactician thought, but didn't say it aloud. It was true, but unnecessarily harsh.

Chrom frowned, still unconvinced.

The Ylissean festivities for the winter solstice would start in a few days, and would last four consecutive days. It was tradition for the Ylissean royal family to have a prominent role in the celebrations, giving speeches and declaring the official start of the holidays. It wasn't necessary for Chrom to attend, since any priest of Naga could take his place; but the rulers only relied on the clerics when they were at war, and even then, not always. If Chrom didn't go, they risked giving the capital a negative message about the situation in the eastern castle. Absences only happened when things were serious.

"If Frederick and you go alone on horse, you'll be even faster than the carriage. It will just take you a couple of days to arrive. You'll be out barely more than a week." Robin reasoned. "I'll be fine, and it's not like you'll miss the birth or something, it won't happen for several more months."

Chrom sighed and looked away, his body still tense. Despite the argument, Robin found it sweet how his lover was so worried about him. His attitude was practically yelling "I'm a first-time dad and I don't know what to do with myself!". Robin approached him and hugged him softly. Chrom could feel the grown midsection of the tactician pressing softly against his own. He instinctively hugged him back, taking care of protecting the place the baby was growing with his own body. He felt Robin playing with his hair and relaxed a little.

"Chrom." Robin said softly "I'm sure by now you have realized a pregnancy is more boring and annoying than anything else. The most intense event will be me throwing up, like every morning." Chrom frowned when he heard that, but Robin continued before he could reply.

"Which is something everyone is already used to and knows how to deal with. I know you don't want to hear all the lewd comments the Shepherds will make upon your arrival, but sometimes and Exalt must suffer for his people." The comment earned the tactician a small laugh from Chrom. "Lissa is the best healer I could ask for. I'll be fine, really."

Chrom exhaled slowly. He still didn't like the idea of leaving Robin behind in that castle, but he realized he was probably overreacting. To Robin's surprise, he took him in his arms and brought him to the bed. He laid him down and laid next to him, hiding his face in the nape Robin's neck and staying silent. Robin just smiled, stroking his blue hair. He had won the argument, Chrom just needed some time with him knowing he would leave the next day. The tactician would remind him to pack later. For now, he simply enjoyed the cuddles.

* * *

 **It's been a while since the last chapter, but I'm back after a couple of busy months. I hope you liked this chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

Living in Ylisse while having a close connection to the royal family came with many advantages. One of the most important ones, in Robin's opinion, was having access to luxury foods whenever he wanted.

Four days after Chrom and Frederick left, the princess declared it was cold enough to officially start the "hot cocoa season" as she called it. Katerina and Jyne looked excited at the luxury, while Robin confused because he had no idea what she was talking about. Lissa was horrified that the tactician didn't know about hot cocoa, and ordered the servants to bring a mug for everyone as soon as possible. Robin sarcastically apologized for having lived in small poor villages in Regna Ferox and losing his memory.

When the drinks arrived, Lissa made sure to prepare Robin's mug properly before he could touch it. He was fond of sweet food, so she wasn't afraid of making it too sweet. Robin was allowed to try the drink after she had added half a dozen of spices, honey, sugar and milk.

"How is it?" She asked, excited.

Robin licked his lips and stared at the brown drink. It wasn't bad, but…

"I think next time you should just put milk and honey" He said, frowning a Little while staring at his mug. He wasn't sure his brain was capable of properly processing the explosion of different flavours he had just experienced.

Lissa gave him an apologetic look. She had been clearly excited and had overdone it. Robin chuckled, not angry with her at all.

"What if I teach you how to make a traditional Feroxi sweet for the solstice and we try it with a new cup of hot cocoa?"

Lissa cheered up, and he caught the interest of Katerina as well. The next day, in the afternoon the four of them went to the kitchen and, to the surprise of the servants, the three women tried cooking following Robin's instructions. The sweet was a simple bun with ginger, but the flour was mixed with berry juice and honey instead of milk. The shape of the sweets was awful, and the only reason they didn't burn was because the cook took control of the oven when they finished preparing the dough. But they tasted good.

Robin had a tense smile when he saw the result of their experiment and took one in his hands. He slowly drank his chocolate in silence while Lissa and Katerina stuffed themselves with the food they had made, trying to listen to their conversation, but failing miserably while the claw of anxiety grabbed him from the inside all of a sudden. Robin felt his mouth dry and the hot cocoa had lost all its flavour. He didn't eat at all while he tried to pretend he wasn't having trouble focusing on the people in front of him, and that his lips weren't trembling. He soon said that the heat of the kitchen had left him a little dizzy and got up from his chair. He retired and went to his room, followed by Lissa, who got worried. Robin assured her he was fine, despite being a little pale and feeling dizzy, and she left him with the promise to tell them if something wrong happened.

Robin had started crying even before reaching the bed, and the reason were those sweets he had spent the afternoon baking with his friends. He had just wanted to share what little memories he had managed to recover, but he hadn't expected the wave of feelings that would crash down on him when he tried eating the same sweets of his childhood after so many years.

He and his mother were quite poor, always moving from one village to the other, so they almost never had enough money to buy such a food. But she tried to buy it at least once per winter, which they would share together in front of a fireplace while she told him some story to help him sleep. His first instinct when he took one of the buns had been to slice it in two and give it to his mother.

But his mother wasn't there. She was dead, forgotten in a permanently frozen riverside at the northeastern part of Regna Ferox, where she had been brutally murdered by some fanatics. Not completely unlike Emmeryn, in fact. His first failure; his worst failure. He hadn't been able to save the sister of the person he loved most. He was awful.

He tried and failed to stop his sobbing, his hands shaking and grabbing the treat so strongly the bed was getting full of crumbs. He knew logically that he shouldn't have such a strong reaction because of a stupid dessert and that the real reason was the pregnancy messing with his emotions, but he couldn't stop feeling pathetic. He missed his mother, even though he barely remembered her. And he missed Chrom, who was away at some stupid celebration he didn't even _need_ to attend. He wished he hadn't. He wished Chrom had convinced him to let him stay and was there with him at the moment. He felt horribly lonely and miserable, and the culprit was one of his favourite childhood sweets.

It was absurd and awfully frustrating.

He hugged his belly, overcomed by his loneliness and wanting to believe he wasn't _completely_ alone in that room, and hid his face against his knees, crying himself to sleep.

* * *

When Robin woke up, several hours later, he was feeling like garbage. His mouth felt dry and he had a slight headache. He felt the skin in his face strange and tense due to the dried tears. He felt so tired he might as well not have fallen asleep.

He slowly sat up and realized there was a thick blanket covering him. He was sure he hadn't gotten it before going to sleep. That meant someone had entered his room and left it while he had passed out on the bed. The relaxing infusion and note left on the nightstand confirmed his suspicions.

Robin took the mug and drank it. It was already a bit cold, so it wasn't very pleasant. Then he took the note and read it.

 _Robin,_

 _I know you don't like to talk about yourself, so I won't ask about your sudden mood swing yesterday. But please, if there's something I can do, tell me. I'm your cleric!_

 _-Lissa_

Robin felt warm inside, knowing he was appreciated and they cared about him. He immediately felt awful for worrying her, too. He sighed.

He left the note and the mug on the nightstand and took the blanket. He took a book despite it still being too dark to read and approached the window bench. He got comfortable with the pillows and covered himself with the blanket. It was still very dark, and it looked like the day wouldn't start in several hours. But the moon was full and it gave enough light to illuminate the snow slowly falling from the sky. Robin watched it, being soothed by the calmness of the winter view. He managed to nod off occasionally, leaning his head against the cold glass.

A noise at the door made him raise his head. He turned his face and saw Lissa and Jyne entering, the second one with a tray of breakfast. Lissa approached with a worried look.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked, softly.

Not really.

"Kind of." He lied.

Her look told him she wasn't convinced. He sighed and looked away. Even if she wasn't going to ask, he felt like telling her would save both of them a lot of unnecessary awkward silence. So he breathed deeply and spoke.

"The food reminded me of my mother. She was brutally murdered in front of me." He added, bitterly.

Both servant and princess expression quickly went from worry to horror upon hearing that.

"Gods, Robin. I had no idea…" Lissa said.

Robin pressed his lips together. He didn't want them to worry more about him or feel even more pity. He wanted them to leave without worries so he could relax in his room. Except he didn't want to be alone. But the person he wanted to be with wouldn't be back for several days. He repressed a frustrated groan. That sudden obsession with Chrom's company was starting to feel annoying.

"I think I'll take a nap after breakfast." He told them, trying desperately to change the topic. "I'm still kind of tired."

Lissa nodded in agreement.

"Do you want me to make you something to sleep better?" She offered.

He hadn't actually thought of that. "Yeah. Thank you."

Jyne and Lissa left after that. Robin got up and approached his food. The warmth of the hot cocoa mug comforted him a bit.

* * *

Robin was half asleep on the coach closest to the fire, the book he had been reading slowly slipping from his grip. Chrom smiled warmly when he saw it and closed the door to the chamber in silence to not startle him. He approached him and sat next to him. The tactician woke up completely upon noticing the change in the coach and looked around, confused.

"Hi." Chrom said.

"Chrom?! What…? When did you arrive?!"

"I just did." He answered. He extended one arm behind Robin and got closer to him. The tactician leaned against his chest. Chrom kissed his hair. "I was told you missed me a little."

Chrom had expected the tactician to glare at him and mumble an excuse, not tear up while hiding his face with his hands.

"And right after I tell you I would be fine without you! This is stupid! I feel stupid!" He whined, unable to control the tears that were falling though his face.

Chrom stroke his hair. "Don't say that. You said yourself this would be annoying. It's just annoying you in ways you didn't expect."

"I did expect them." Robin groaned in protest. Right after, he realized he hadn't actually thought about the emotional part much unless it had to do with his dysphoria.

"I still think you're being too hard on yourself."

Robin groaned and hid his face on his shoulder. "Still stupid." He complained.

Chrom sighed at his stubbornness. "You're going through something a lot harder than many people think it is. Than I thought it it was." He admitted. "Give yourself a break. You _are_ amazing." He declared.

Robin blushed against his clothes. "Fine, but stop. If I get any more emotional today I'll explode."

Chrom chuckled and just kissed his forehead.

* * *

Chrom came back from his training and went into his room. Robin was already approaching his eighth month, so he spent most of the time resting while reading a book or checking reports. He had frequent back pain and Chrom was always close and willing to help, rubbing his back, helping him stretch, making sure everything was close enough for him to get it without effort if he needed it. He had said he was going to help him in any way he could, and Chrom didn't go back on his word. Robin was actually starting to find it stressful.

But that day Chrom had finished his training earlier than usual and when he entered his chamber, he found it empty. He called for him but no one answered. His heart sped up, and he fled the room, ready to call the guards. Something had happened while he was training, something bad, he was sure.

To his surprise, relief and irritation, he saw him walking with Lissa and Jyne around the garden field, while Katerina read a book on her own on one of the benches in the middle. The snow had melted and the days were becoming warmer again, much to the queen and her handmaiden's joy. The garden still wasn't as green as it could be, but everything was starting to slowly regrow.

Chrom approached them fast, and the sound of his boots on the ground alerted them and made them stop. They looked at him, Lissa a little worried and Jyne a little annoyed. Robin, however, was smiling at him with the confidence of someone that knew they weren't going to lose an argument. Chrom stopped in front of them.

"Why weren't you in your room?!" He had sounded more agitated than he had wanted, but Robin didn't seem to care.

"I was taking a walk while you trained." He answered. The tone told Chrom he had been doing that for a while without him noticing.

"On your own?"

"Of course not. I have a lovely lady on each arm." Robin grinned even more.

Both Jyne and Lissa snorted when they heard that, but Jyne took her chance to entangle her arm around his and puffed out her chest. Robin laughed at her, not minding at all. Chrom's serious expression didn't change, and Robin rolled his eyes.

"Chrom, I'm pregnant, not bedridden. A small walk every morning isn't going to hurt. Quite the opposite, actually."

"Yeah. Besides, we're taking good care of him." Jyne added, softly patting Robin's shoulder while he nodded, solemnly.

"You are supposed to be resting."

"Do you really expect me to stay in bed for months like that?" Chrom didn't answer, but his face was clearly affirmative. "Please, most people work until they start giving birth in the middle of something. I'm fine!"

"They do?" Lissa inquired, suddenly worried.

"Peasants can't afford to not work." Jyne answered, slightly amused at her understandable lack of knowledge. Her cleric training had been done with hurt knights and noble ladies; neither of which had to worry about whether resting for long would actually hurt their income too much.

"My mother actually started labor when she was helping her lady to bathe." Jyne added, pensive.

"Gods, really?!" Robin couldn't stop himself from snorting. "That had to be a mess!"

"It was!" Jyne was now the one laughing. "She always said her lady refused to take her seriously until my mother threw some blood in the bathtub. And her face when she realized!" The servant was tearing up from laughter. "She always told me I couldn't have chosen a better time to be born!"

"You were basically born on the job. Don't tell me that's why you're a servant too."

"No." Jyne's face lit up with the realization. "But that's exactly what I'm going to say from now on."

Both of them kept laughing while Lissa took that chance to take Chrom away from them and talk with him.

"Chrom." She started. "I know you're worried, but relax. Everything's fine. Robin's right, walking is good for him. And we stop to rest a little whenever he gets tired."

"Still… Why didn't you tell me? What if I'm not around and he trips? Or…"

"That's why he didn't want to tell you anything."

A new voice sounded and both of them looked at the source. Katerina had approached them and smiled at them calmly. Chrom stared at her, confused. Meanwhile, Jyne and Robin resumed their stroll and were slowly walking around the bushes.

"What?"

"Chrom, Robin is very anxious right now. He has been trying to hide it so it wouldn't make you even more nervous." She explained, patiently.

"Yeah." Lissa added then. "You're both nervous, but if you become more stressed, he'll be even worse. That's why we were doing this behind your back."

Chrom pressed his lips and looked away. Lissa sighted.

"Chrom, I'm not scolding you. I understand you feel like this. But everything is going great and we have everything under control. Please, try to loosen up and relax. For him?"

Chrom breathed slowly and nodded. They were right.

Katerina seemed to smile more brightly. "Well, since it's getting warmer, I was thinking of having some tea in the garden this afternoon. Why don't you come, both of you?"

"Just take a bath first, please." Lissa covered her nose.

Chrom blushed in embarrassment. "I was going to until I found my room empty and not a single note on why!" He complained.

But Lissa just waved and shooed him away while Katerina chuckled, and the king had no choice but to leave.

* * *

Katerine insisted on changing their usual gathering place to the inner garden, inside the square shaped pergola covered in climbing plants. They were already showing tiny buds that would become flowers in several days.

Robin took his teacup and brought it to his lips, trying to hide his smirk. In front of him, his five friends were staring at the gameboard with a tense and worried expression. Frederick mumbled something to the others, trying to not be heard by the tactician. Lissa nodded, staring intently at the map in front of her. Katerina seemed to frown and ponder something.

They all had joined and tried to combine their wits to defeat Robin on his strategy game. They knew Robin always tried to win without a single loss, so they started rushing onto his units as soon as the game started. But Robin knew well his weakness, so on his first turn he had set a formidable defense and put the healers close to help it, and several of his rival's units had ended up suiciding onto his army. Robin also sent some pegasi to the mountains on the left, which forced them to retreat to the right side of the map. He also seemed to have left his commander strangely unguarded and separated from the rest of the army, to the right, with only an archer with him. If the commander died, you lost. It had to be some kind of trap.

The sceptical enemy team finally agreed to send several units at once to kill Robin's commander. They were close enough for Robin to attack, but they were also five against one; and one of them was a healer unit. Robin failed to suppress his grin when he saw that, and even more when his expression made his rivals tense. He made his red commander attack the blue enemy one within the small group of units and hurt him badly. The counter also hurt his own, but he didn't mind that. He moved his archer and made it shoot the cleric dead thanks to the longbow. Jyne's eyes widened when she realized their mistake, but her lips kept pressed. They still had four units there. They could win easily in the next turn.

Except Robin used both of his healers to rescue the commander and the archer, reorganized the army to protect said units, and sent his cavaliers to chase the hurt enemy commander.

Panic could be felt at the blue army's side, and they were soon fleeing from Robin's chip attacks that were slowly draining them. They got the commander as far as possible from the mounted enemies that came from the right side. Robin split his army in two without saying anything, and sent a small force with his commander to the base of the mountains at the left. His rivals just kept fleeing, realizing their commander was getting in range of the furthest pegasus, but knowing attacking it would be suicide for the flying horse.

Then Robin made his commander mount on the closest pegasus. The pegasus got to the next one over the mountains and transferred the commander. And so did the next one, and the next one. The last one got close enough to the blue commander to attack it, and changed place with the commander it was carrying. The blue team's faces became more and more panicked as they saw the red commander getting closer and realizing their mistake. Robin knocked the blue leader with a smug smile on his face he was unable to hide anymore.

"I win."

Jyne got up with a groan and started angrily walking wound the garden, scratching at her head. Lissa let her head hit the table. Frederick had his hands clasped and was staring at the map as if it had somehow betrayed him.

"I hope you never leave to work for another country." Chrom sighed, defeated.

"I wonder." Robin answered with a smile, trying to sit more comfortable on the chair and chewing on a sandwich.

His belly had gotten so big everything was annoying, hard and exhausting. Not to mention the frequent bathroom breaks he had to take and his almost constant back pain. He wanted it to be over soon, but knowing exactly what was waiting for him at the end made his anxiety skyrocket. Lissa had noticed and had strengthened the effect of the relaxing infusions.

"If you do, tell me so I can ask for help as a refugee in case war happens." Lissa added, raising her head and unhappily staring at the disaster of an army they had left.

"Make it two." Katerina sighted.

Robin chuckled while Chrom protested she was the Queen Consort, and couldn't leave the country just like that.

"If you want some advice, next time don't team up against me all at once. The more people you are, the harder it is to agree on what to do."

But his rivals didn't seem to appreciate the advice.

"We'll never be able to win on our own. You're too good!" Lissa complained, raising her head a little while frowning at the pieces representing an army.

"It is my job to be good at this." Robin smirked. As much as he tried to be a good rival and offer ways for them to improve, he would be lying if he said he wasn't taking pleasure at their despair due to their crushing defeat. "That said, I'm sure you can improve if you practise more. Katerina and Frederick have surprised me very positively, I'll admit."

"What a nice way to say Chrom, Lissa and I are useless on a map!" Jyne's yell from the other side of the garden made them raise their heads in her direction. She had stopped next to a bush that was yet to bloom and was glaring at him. Robin blushed in embarrassment.

"Don't put words in my mouth!" He complained. "But… I do think you three are too impatient to improve quickly at this."

Chrom and Lissa sighed, while Katerina quietly chuckled next to them. They couldn't argue against that.

* * *

 **A little bit of everything for this chapter! It's very hard for me to write this type of chapter in which the only thing happening is, well, life, so I hope you liked it! Or, at least, find it acceptable, uh.**


	15. Chapter 15

Robin suddenly woke up. He looked around the room, startled and confused. It would still be a couple of hours until sunrise and Chrom basically unconscious on the bed, next to him. The tactician frowned; he was at the last stages of the pregnancy and his belly was so uncomfortable sleeping was almost a luxury he didn't like losing it for no reason. He was always tired and sleepy and Lissa had recently forbidden him from drinking tea in hopes the lack of stimulants helped him sleep. It hadn't worked.

A sudden pain on his lower part brought him back to reality. He gasped, waiting for the sensation to pass. Once it did, he tried to count the time until the next contraction. It took almost thirty minutes, which meant it was just starting and he had at least half a day before his state suffered any important change. He had a brief flashback of watching his mother going to bed while they were in someone's house, knowing they could sleep without much worry until the next day. He should probably do the same.

But he couldn't. The anxiety he had been trying to push down the last few weeks was coming at him in full, and despite knowing how Lissa had everything under control and how well everything had gone the last months, he could feel his hands shaking. He briefly wondered if he should wake Chrom up and ask him to bring him some relaxing infusión, but it would be unlikely for the prince to go to the kitchen for something so simple, and he wasn't sure he wouldn't try to bother Lissa. And the tactician felt bad waking up the whole castle when they could probably wait peacefully at least until noon. So he tried to breathe deeply and grabbed one of Chom's hands. He noticed he was still shaking a little, but closed his eyes and tried to focus on Chrom's breathing next to him.

The sun had already risen when Chrom yawned and stirred, realizing half asleep that his hand was being held. He blinked to push the sleep away and looked around. Robin seemed to have grabbed his hand in his sleep, and was laying on the side with his eyes closed. Chrom kissed his head and, to his surprise, the tactician opened his eyes immediately.

"Did I wake you? Sorry." Chrom apologized.

But Robin shook his head. "I woke up a while ago, but couldn't sleep again."

Chrom tried to hug him, but noticed he was unusually tense. Then he grimaced for several seconds before letting his face relax again. At that, Chrom grew worried.

"Robin, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." He replied. When he said that, Robin realized it was a question he had been waiting for hours. _Nothing_ had gone wrong so far, he was just impossibly nervous. The realization that things were fine made him relax. "A twenty minute break is not enough to let me fall asleep, I guess."

"Break? From what?"

"Contractions, Chrom." He explained as if it was the most obvious answer. "I started labor a few hours ago."

" _What?!_ Why didn't you wake me up?! I have to tell Lissa." Upon hearing that, Chrom immediately got out of the bed and started dressing up.

Robin sighed. "I'm just on the first part of this, one that can take very long. There's no hurry to wake the whole castle. Your sister will just probably laugh in your face."

Chrom frowned at his words, but left the room in a hurry anyway to search for his sister. He went running to her chamber and knocked on the door forcefully until she opened with a startled face.

"The baby's coming." Chrom managed to say, feeling his hands shaking.

"Oh." Lissa's face relaxed. "Alright. Do you know when he started?"

"He said a few hours ago, but I don't…" He trailed off and shook his head. "So what? It's started!"

"I know, Chrom, I heard you." To his bewilderment, she yawned. "I'll go have breakfast and tell Jyne to bring him food as well. You can bring him to the room we prepared for now."

"But…!" Chrom started talking, but stopped when he realized he had no idea of what he wanted to say. Robin was in labour, the baby was coming. Lissa knew it, but she didn't seem in a hurry at all. Nor did Robin, despite his nervousness. He didn't understand how they weren't in a hurry. The baby could be there at any moment!

...Right?

His sister gave him a patient smile. "This will take very long, Chrom, the better part of the day. If he hasn't noticed any problem, there's no reason to hurry yet. And he didn't, right?"

Chrom stared at her, wordless, and nodded slightly. His sister patted his shoulder.

"We have everything under control and I know what we're doing. I'm completely serious when I tell you there is no hurry. Just take him to the room and I'll tell Jyne to bring him breakfast."

Her words were kind, but she made no attempt to comfort Chrom more, and immediately went back to her room to change her clothes. Chrom stood in front of her room, processing what had just happened, and then ran back to his room. Robin was still on the bed, reading the book he had left on the nightstand a few days before. He looked nervous, but not particularly worried. Chrom sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulders.

"How are you doing?"

"Hungry."

Robin sounded more resigned than worried. The only indication about his state the tactician gave Chrom was pressing his lips with a small grimace for a few seconds after a while.

"Are you fine?"

Robin sighed when he heard that. He sounded annoyed. "Yes, Chrom, I am."

"It's just—"

"I know, Chrom, I know. But Lissa is a cleric and my mother was a midwife. Trust us when we tell you nothing will happen for several hours."

Chrom breathed deeply, trying to let Robin's words convince him.

"I have to take you to the other room."

"Oh." Robin took the bookmark and put it between the pages. Then, to Chrom's surprise, he tried to get up from the bed, pushing Chrom away.

"I'll take you there."

The prince saw clearly how the tactician tried his best to not roll his eyes.

"I can walk." He assured him.

And he did, ignoring Chrom's attempts to softly grab his arm and heading out of the room with book in hand, walking perfectly towards the other room while Chrom followed closely. Once there, Robin sat in one of the chairs next to the table while Chrom stood right at his side, not knowing what to do. A few minutes later, Jyne entered with breakfast, together with several other servants with towels and buckets filled with water.

Then Lissa arrived, and the servants chased Chrom out of the room unceremoniously, claiming he was just making Robin more nervous. The tactician didn't protest, so Chrom was forced to resign himself to leave the place for the sake of his lover, despite not wanting to leave him alone. He found himself alone with Frederick outside the room.

"Shall we have some breakfast, milord?" The knight asked.

Chrom nodded, thankful for the distraction.

* * *

Frederick and Chrom trained the whole morning until a servant appeared to bring them lunch. When Chrom asked about Robin she just said he hadn't finished yet. He looked at her puzzled. It had been eight hours since the birth had started. Robin and Lissa had told him it would take long, but it couldn't be _that_ long, right?

"It's perfectly possible to last more than a day, and even two days, especially the first time." She explained, to the confused men in front of her. "We can't know for how long it will continue, milord. Now, if you'll excuse me." She bowed respectfully and went back to her duties.

Chrom and Frederick stared at each other awkwardly. Chrom had trouble processing the fact that Robin could be giving birth for more than a day . Not only that, but that the servant had treated the information as if it was common sense to expect such a long process. He felt strangely ignorant. Frederick was thinking something similar, but also wondering how he was supposed to entertain his lord for such a long time so he wouldn't feel anxious about the wait.

Fortunately, at that moment they saw Katerina walking towards them with a smile. She knew about Robin (Jyne was apparently helping Lissa too), and knowing Chrom would be really nervous, she invited him and Frederick to have some tea with her. Frederick offered himself to go to the kitchen, not wanting to disturb the rest of the service for that. Katerina led Chrom to a table in the inner gardens and they waited for Frederick to come back. The three of them spent most of the afternoon talking a little bit about everything, Katerina making sure the nervous prince remained distracted while giving the knight a break from his duties.

It was later that evening when a distraught soldier approached them running. He barely bowed in front of his superiors before informing them that some risen had suddenly appeared around the castle and were approaching it. Chrom and Frederick got up immediately and told Katerina to go to a safer place, and then run to the barracks. The troops there were getting ready, but the nervous environment told Chrom they weren't used to fighting the walking corpses. Chrom summoned the leader inside him and took control of the situation fast, encouraging the soldiers. He didn't have Robin for that battle, but remembered how he usually put people in pairs or small groups while fighting, and ordered that nobody remained alone in battle. They all got outside the castle, cavalry and infantry going for different paths, while Chrom remained on the same horse as Frederick, commanding the troops.

The battle wasn't difficult, but it was long. The risen were numerous, and despite striking them down, more seemed to appear from the nearby forest. There were three waves of monsters appearing from every corner outside the walls of the castle, slowly walking towards it, as if something was calling them inside. They ignored the troops unless they were attacked first, but proved to be strong and aggressive when provoked. It was sunset when they were all defeated and no more appeared from the ground.

The troops celebrated their victory happily, but the strange behaviour of the otherwise mindless and extremely aggressive monsters left Chrom and Frederick with a bad feeling in their stomachs. Once everyone reunited in the entrance, Frederick checked for those that had gotten hurt to lead them to the infirmary. Chrom sat on the grass of the training fields, close enough to the building to see the people there but not to hear them.

He realized, estranged, that a couple of servants were there too, and they were taking every vulnerary and healing staff they could get on their arms. Some soldiers were yelling at them for taking everything and not letting them attend their own wounds, but the servants absolutely refused to leave the items there, and ran back to the castle as fast as they could. Frederick stared at them, bewildered by their categorical refusal, while Chrom felt how his stomach turned to ice. Frederick happened to catch his lord's gaze, and they stared at each other, paralyzed.

Something was wrong.

Chrom found himself running through the corridors of the building before he realized his legs were moving, approaching the hallway where he was living. He opened wide the door of the room where Robin, Lissa and the rest of the servants were. The smell of blood was like a slap on the face. His mind, dazed with worry, barely registered the wail of a baby somewhere on his right. Robin was unconscious on the bed, the six-eyed brand softly shining in an unsettling purple. He was extremely pale, skin almost almost grey, sunken eyes, and his hair wet with sweat and glued to his scalp. He didn't react to the noise or the baby that was crying in the background. Chrom could feel the claw of terror starting to rend him from the inside.

"Get him out." Lissa's order was firm. She didn't even look at him before grabbing another staff and starting to use it on the unconscious man on the bed. Hopefully just unconscious; he didn't look like he was breathing.

"Robin!" Chrom yelled, face contorted in despair, the situation sinking on his head.

"Get him out!" Lissa ordered again, not even blinking at her desperate brother.

Chrom suddenly felt two strong arms hugging him from behind and lifting him. The prince tried to wrestle out of the hold, but Frederick was strong, taller, and still in his armor. He didn't even feel his lord's kicks while bringing him out of the room, taking him away. Chrom broke down and started crying in fear, but Frederick's grip didn't weaken. His presence in the room would only make things worse and the knight couldn't risk him slipping away, no matter how terribly he was feeling.

Katerina appeared at some point, and kneeled next to them to hug Chrom and Frederick. The knight desperately tried to say something, to comfort his lord, to ask Katerina for help, for anything; but he found out his throat was completely dry and he couldn't utter a word. One of his friends was dying next to them and there was nothing any of them could do about it.

After what seemed an eternity, the door opened again. The three of them tensed, and fearfully looked in that direction. Jyne, Lissa and three other servants got out. The servants left in the opposite direction, carrying numerous blankets covered in blood. Lissa and Jyne approached them instead. Jyne didn't greet them before taking Katerina's hand and guiding her to their room. Frederick was sure he had heard her sob before the door closed.

"Come." Lissa told them.

Her face was carefully neutral, but she looked tired. She guided them to the room and let them enter. Everything had been cleaned, except for a few patches of blood here and there. The only servant left was holding a baby with blue hair carefully covered in a blanket. She slowly approached Chrom and lent him the baby, saying it was a girl, and then leaving without a word. The baby was asleep. Robin was asleep, too. Chrom wished that desperately, staring at him. He was as pale as before, still unconscious on bed. His chest was rising, slowly.

The deafening silence was broken by Lissa's voice. "He'll be fine once he wakes up before tomorrow night."

But her voice wavered at the end and Chrom understood the implied meaning. If he didn't wake up by tomorrow night, he wouldn't wake up at all.

Chrom nodded on autopilot, his brain filled with mist and unable to react properly. The happiness of finally holding his daughter and the fear of watching his beloved unconscious and knowing he may never wake up had left his mind blocked.

"We'll leave. Please, try to rest." The cleric said, softly; and then Chrom heard the door close once again.

Chrom managed to make his legs move and sat on the bed. He laid down next to Robin, being careful with the sleeping baby. His chest was still raising and couldn't stop staring at that. It meant he was alive, for another breath. And another breath. And another breath…

* * *

 **I was 100% sure I had uploaded this chapter weeks ago, but I actually didn't?**

 **Well, here you have it, at last.**


	16. Chapter 16

Robin cracked an eye open. He had a headache, his throat was terribly dry and he had never felt as tired in his life. The last thing he remembered was pain and people yelling around him; and then watching the castle from the outside with risen around him until they were all destroyed by the soldiers.

He sat up slowly, feeling a wave of dizziness strike him for a few seconds. His brain was still remembering fragments of the previous day, but the exhaustion and dizziness he was feeling were enough for his hazed brain to conclude something had gone wrong during labor and he had probably lost more blood than he should have. He had to ask Lissa for the details later and figure out what had happened exactly. Then he realized the baby wasn't in its cradle, next to his side. He frowned and looked around.

He realized Chrom was sitting next to him with the baby on his arms. He was just staring at Robin, with bloodshot eyes and dark bags under them. He looked pale and his hair was a mess; and he was still wearing his usual clothes, even his boots. The fact that he was staring at the tired tactician as if he was some kind of miracle; looking at him without moving as if he was an illusion that could disappear at any second, told the tired Plegian man everything.

He moved closer Chrom and softly took the sleeping baby from his arms and left her in the cradle. Then he turned to Chrom once more and put his arms around his neck very slowly, hugging him softly and letting his head rest on his blue hair. Chrom started to shake, putting his hands around his waist and hiding his face in the crook of his neck. He sobbed, loudly; crying the dread and anxiety he had felt the whole night. Robin said nothing while he kissed him softly on the head, letting his presence, his still beating heart, comfort him and calm his fears.

The sun was already rising when Chrom managed to stop shaking. Robin change position to look at him and clean some of his tears with a thumb; then kissed his lips softly. He looked terribly exhausted.

"You should go to sleep." The tactician whispered. His voice was hoarser than he had thought.

Chrom's hand grabbed his waist tighter. "No." he replied, fear returning to his eyes. His own voice wasn't much better than Robin's.

Robin didn't try to argue. Instead, he pushed him softly onto the mattress and rested on him, stroking his hair while Chrom hugged him tightly. The tactician's plan worked, and Chrom fell soundly asleep within minutes. Then Robin sighed and sat next to him. He took off Chrom's boots and shoulder pad, and covered him with a blanket. Then he turned again to the cradle and took the baby. She whimpered in protest, but Robin just cradled her softly until she calmed down. He kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry I didn't greet you before, sweety." He whispered softly to the baby "But dad was really scared."

The baby whimpered again, turning her head towards his body. Robin lifted his shirt and nursed her, patiently waiting until she wasn't hungry anymore while the sun kept rising through the window. He kept her in his arms when she stopped, despite how tired he was. His throat was so dry it had started to hurt; he didn't want to wake up Chrom so he could go and tell the servants to bring some food and drink, but he didn't know how much longer he'd be able to bear it.

Thankfully, several minutes afterwards, the door opened quietly and Lissa came in, followed by Frederick, who was carrying a tray with food and several drinks. Robin almost sighed in relief. Lissa stared widely at him while tears formed in her eyes when she saw him sitting on the bed, but composed herself fast and approached him.

"How are you feeling?" She asked in her "I'm-your-cleric-now" voice.

"Dizzy, tired and thirsty. Very thirsty."

Lissa nodded, expecting that answer. "Something else?"

"Dull ache all over my body. But nothing extraordinary."

Lissa stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded at Frederick. The knight filled a glass with water and brought it to him. Robin tried his best not to drink it so fast he'd choke, his body screaming for some liquid. He gave Frederick the empty glass and whispered a thank you. The knight nodded and took it again. He was visibly more relaxed, having entered the room so anxious about Robin's state he looked like the string of a bow about to snap.

Lissa suddenly hugged Robin tightly, her eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry." She whispered against his skin "I'm really sorry, I… There was so much blood, I didn't know if… If-if you didn't heal better than most I'd have… I'd have…"

She kept sobbing, but Robin understood what she meant. When the blood loss was so bad no amount of healing staves and vulneraries were enough to save the patient, the clerics simply didn't try to help to avoid wasting resources, and instead made sure the death was as painlessly as possible. If Robin's body didn't heal a faster than average, she wouldn't have tried to heal him, knowing it would be useless. She had almost made that decision.

So it had been that bad, huh?

Robin used his free hand to hug her.

"It's fine, Lissa. Sometimes you have to make difficult choices. What matters is that I'm fine now." He looked at her with a small smile, hoping he was really fine, and to his relief, she nodded against his chest.

"How is milord?" Frederick asked then, worriedly staring at the unconscious man on bed.

Lissa stood up and looked at his brother, biting her lip. Robin sighed.

"I don't think he has slept at all tonight, so I forced him to rest for a bit." Robin informed them.

"He lost it yesterday…" Lissa mumbled, feeling pity for her sleeping brother. He looked like a carriage had run over him.

Robin humed, not surprised after what he had been told about his state the previous day. "Will you be back at lunch? I think I'll feel more like a person after eating and sleeping a bit more." The tactician gave them a tired smile.

"Of course!" Lissa confirmed, smiling herself and cleaning her tears discreetly. Frederick nodded as well with a small smile on his face. They both left, closing the door quietly to not wake up Chrom or the baby.

Robin sighed in the quietness of the room. His limbs felt like jelly and his arms had started to shake because of the baby's weight. He carefully left her in the cradle and sat next to Chrom. He stroked the Exalt's cheek and whispered his name. He was deeply asleep, so he ended up having to pinch him softly. Chrom's eyes opened widely, slightly startled, and looked everywhere. Robin just smiled at him softly.

"Morning, love." He whispered.

Chrom stared at him and grabbed the hand on his face, closing his eyes, exhaling slowly. Robin patiently waited until he was sure the anxiety wouldn't overwhelm him again. Then Chrom sat and got closer to Robin, leaning his head on the tactician's shoulder while still holding his hand. Robin made slow circles with his thumb on the back of Chrom's hand to comfort him.

"Lissa and Frederick were here a little while ago and brought breakfast. Why don't we eat and then take a nap until lunch?" The Plegian man whispered. Chrom nodded against his neck, but didn't try to get up immediately, and squeezed his hand tighter instead.

Robin put his other arm around his neck. "I feel a bit weak and I'll need your help to get up." He confessed.

Then he rested against Chrom's chest and waited until he felt ready to leave the bed. The Exalt got up and carried him in his arms to the couch in front of the table with the tray. They sat next to each other, and Robin didn't waste time pouring himself a cup of tea and attacking the defenseless fruit salad. Chrom started eating a piece of cheese, but he wasn't nearly as enthusiastic.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked softly, leaning on him, while he kept throwing blueberries in his mouth.

Chrom sighed and stopped eating.

"I knew it could be dangerous but…" He started, staring at the food as if it had the answers he was looking for.

"But knowing something and actually experiencing it can be two very different things." Robin finished, and then kissed him softly in the neck.

Chrom pressed his lips and nodded. "I knew sometimes people died; but people sometimes died because they caught a cold, even if it's not frequent. I never really believed it could be more dangerous than a battle…"

 _And I've fought dozens of battles unharmed while a single child almost got to me_. Robin guessed what he was thinking.

"I felt so ignorant and useless…" Chrom continued, clenching his jaw for a few seconds in frustration. "Perhaps knowing wouldn't have meant anything and there would have been nothing for me to do anyway, but…" He stopped, not really knowing where he was going with that. Then he shook his head, exasperated with himself. "I don't understand how you could decide to go through this knowing exactly how it was."

Robin smiled softly at his confession and nuzzled against his shoulder.

"You can't live thinking about the worst that could happen, Chrom. When you go to battle you don't think constantly of a possible lost arrow that could find your chest. This is the same."

Chrom released a shaky breath and nodded.

"You're right, sorry. It's just…"

"This was unexpected and it scared you a lot. It's fine, I understand." Robin kissed his lips softly and leaned up his head to touch Chrom's forehead with his.

The Exalt closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Things were fine now. It was fine.

"Thank you."

Robin smiled at him. "That's what I'm here for."

Chrom smiled back, his relief clear on his face. Then he realized than more than half of the fruit had disappeared from the bowl.

"That and devour the fruit, I see."

Robin just smirked, stabbed another piece of peach with his fork and put it in his mouth.

"How well you know me."

* * *

Lissa was back at lunch as promised, but Chrom and Robin barely saw anyone else other than the servants bringing them food for the next two weeks. The tactician knew they were being left alone on purpose because of the baby. Lucina was quick to interrupt their usual routine, crying anytime she needed something; and both parents were soon tired and feeling the lack of sleep upon them. Robin was the worst of them both, suffering his postpartum cramps while his insides tried to return to his normal size after nine months carrying a baby.

He almost drowned himself with soothing teas. Chrom remained practically glued to him, the fright of the birth still not having completely left him. The pain the tactician was suffering worried him even more, despite both Lissa and Robin guaranteeing him it was perfectly normal and it would stop in a couple of weeks.

Once the three of them seemed to have started recovering from the ordeal, Lissa allowed them to have lunch with everyone else, since they hadn't seen Frederick, Katerina or Jyne since the birth of Lucina. Jyne started crying almost immediately after seeing Robin, and hugged him while sobbing loudly. Katerina told them she had spent the night after labor crying. Robin patted her on the head and silently prayed that she recovered fast and stopped crushing his ribs. Katerina kept her distance, knowing Robin wasn't too fond of physical contact, but she was clearly relieved at seeing him feeling fine. The tactician let them hold the baby as much as they wanted as long as Lucina didn't complain. After all, it was the perfect chance to let his arms rest. When it was Frederick's turn, the knight almost teared up and refused to eat anything else to not disturb the baby. Chrom couldn't help but snicker at him.

"I don't know if it is my place to ask," Jyne started, already recovered from her previous sobbing "but what about her Brand? Where is it?"

Chrom bit his lips. While he knew well the Brand could take years before it appeared, he was a little disappointed he hadn't seen any Brand on her body the few times he had changed her diapers. But Robin answered before he could say anything.

"It's on her left eye."

Everyone looked at him, surprised. Robin stared at Chrom, confused by his surprised.

"You hadn't noticed?" Chrom shook his head, feeling a little embarrassed "Well, I guess it is a little hidden, especially since she still spends most of the time sleeping." Robin conceded.

"I didn't think it could appear on the eyes…"

Robin humed. "I'm far from an expert, but if it's supposed to appear anywhere on your body, then the skin is just one part, isn't it? It could be on your eyes, nails; even internal organs, I guess. And of course, if you happen to have it on your stomach, then you'll never be able to see it, sadly."

He had mentioned it offhandedly, but it was a comment clearly addressed to Lissa. He knew about her fears due to her lack of Brand; and he hoped that theory could give her a little bit of relief. Even if Robin turned out to be right, they could never check it; but it was a bit better than the alternative. Lissa looked teary, but happier that she had been for a while. Chrom smiled at her.

"To be honest I'm more curious to know if she could wield the Falchion." Robin confessed.

It was way too early to check it, but his curiosity seemed to not care about that.

"What are the requirements?" Katerina asked, curious as well.

"The Falchion chooses you." Chrom answered.

Jyne frowned. "Really? And that's it? What a selfish sword."

Everyone smiled, amused; except Frederick.

Robin sipped his tea in silence while the rest kept chatting. If that day of labor was to mean something, it was clear that Lucina would turn into a very strong woman, and Robin was sure she'd have a chance at wielding the weapon. He tried to imagine it for a few seconds: a young woman with long blue hair and Chrom's features wielding the Falchion at her side.

He frowned unconsciously when his brain summoned the image of Marth.

He hadn't thought of her since she disappeared soon before the war against Plegia ended. It had been clear from the beginning that, while she was on their side and wanted to help; she also wanted to keep her distance and avoid involving herself with them. Robin had nothing against that attitude, and had left her to her own devices as long as she didn't turn into a threat.

But at that moment he realized that she did look a lot like Chrom, and that her Falchion was likely not a fake. He remembered seeing her in his dreams the night he realized he had become pregnant.

The answer to the puzzle was right there, in front of his eyes. But he had no idea how to turn the pieces so it would make sense. It was absurd, and yet…

"Don't tell me you're pregnant again." Jyne's voice snapped him from his thoughts.

Robin realized everyone was staring at him worriedly. He had been so focused on his own thoughts he had forgotten they were there.

"What? No! I'm nursing her." He replied. Then he sighed. "I was just thinking of Marth. She hasn't appeared at all in more than a year."

"Perhaps she left to help some other country." Chrom said.

"I hope she's fine. She helped us a lot." Lissa added.

Frederick nodded and explained to the confused Katerina and Jyne who were they talking about.

Robin discreetly glanced at the baby that was still in the knight's arms. "I have the feeling we'll see her again." He said quietly, sipping his tea again.

That hunch meant everything they knew about Marth and her behaviour made sense. Too much sense, even. But he had no idea how it could be even remotely possible.

* * *

Robin yawned and opened his eyes. The stars could be seen in the sky, but it looked like his brain didn't want him to sleep more. After a month, his body had returned to normal; but that meant he had lost the exhaustion that had helped him sleep before. He knew it was better to be healthy than constantly tired, but he couldn't help but miss it a little.

He got up slowly, trying to not wake Chrom up, made sure the baby was clean and well fed so she wouldn't start crying and waking up Chrom, got dressed and left the room quietly. He got inside one of the secret corridors of the floor. Despite being much smaller than the castle at Ylisse, this place had many more hidden hallways than the capital's. Robin had discovered it on the first days after their arrival, and couldn't help but wonder why. Had this place been built at a time where political intrigue was far more prevalent than when the other one was created?

He kept walking through the corridor until he found a specific stone wall and flipped a hidden switch. The wall moved to the side to show the grass surrounding the castle. Robin got out after cautiously looking around. The passage closed after him. He kept walking around the wall, close to it and avoiding the parts that were guarded better. People wouldn't like knowing he had made a habit of getting out of the castle alone at night, but those were times when he'd rather not find anyone that would worry about him, and that would be impossible if he stayed inside the walls, unless he went for the library.

He closed his eyes and felt the cool breeze of the night on his head. After walking for a few minutes, he heard steps behind him and turned immediately, holding a sword he had hidden within the robe.

"It is dangerous to walk around at night alone." Marth greeted him, stopping a few steps behind him.

Robin sighed in relief and dropped his guard, putting the sword back in place. Marth saw there was a tome and some throwing knives inside as well. Perhaps he hadn't been as thoughtless as she had thought.

"And I'm sure you've noticed I took the necessary steps to minimize the danger as much as possible."

The tactician saw her press her lips together and grabbing the handle of her sword. The Falchion. He wondered if she was going to attack him, but then realized she did that as if trying to comfort or reassure herself.

"It's been a while, Marth. How have you been?" Robin tried the break the uncomfortable silence that had set.

He had the feeling she wanted to speak of something, but was unsure of where to start.

"I've been fine." She replied dryly, as if she didn't want to talk about it. Or perhaps it was just that her interest laid somewhere else. She stared at him. There was worry on her eyes. "How are you doing? I hear there were… complications."

Robin gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine. Lissa saved me. I've recovered completely, but I'll still take things easy for a while. Better safe than sorry."

Marth looked as if a burden had lifted from her shoulders, becoming visibly more relaxed and much less worried. Robin noticed she had been so anxious she hadn't realized her own slip; but didn't blame her. Instead, he asked her what had been of her during that year and half. Marth answered evasively, but Robin didn't mind and kept talking about trivial matters. He just wanted her to be less anxious. They ended up in a comfortable silence.

"You know you'll always be welcome with us, Lucina."

Marth tensed and stared at him in shock. Her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide. Too many emotions were reflected in them while tears started to flow.

She ran away.

Robin didn't follow. It wasn't difficult to realize her life must have been anything but easy, if she had somehow managed to be there with them, instead of wherever (or, perhaps, _when_ ever) she should have. And when one suffered for so long, they could grow scared of having happiness so close; at an arm's reach. It was too much and she wasn't ready to face it.

The tactician just hoped she would be fine until she came back.

* * *

 **I have many chapters written already, so perhaps I'll update a bit more frequently from now on!**


	17. Chapter 17

Robin lifted his shirt in front of the mirror and sighed. Several furious red lines went down his belly and got lost under his pants. They had barely faded in the four months that had passed since Lucina's birth. It would still take a lot of time for them to become white and blend better with his body.

Robin let the cloth fall and hide them. The problem wasn't that he had stretch marks that would never completely fade—he didn't care. The problem was that it was yet another thing to hide about his body from the rest of the Shepherds. Robin frowned. With everything that had happened, he hadn't thought of telling the rest about him and his relationship with Chrom, but perhaps it was actually time to seriously consider it. They were clearly loyal and trusting people, if perhaps ignorant of gender issues. But that could only be countered by teaching them.

He shook his head to focus again and checked his arms. He had never been a wall of muscles, but the pregnancy had made him lose a lot of them. He had restarted training barely a month and half after labor, to Chrom's dismay, but Robin had insisted he couldn't look like he hadn't done anything in the last nine months they had spent in the eastern castle. It would be suspicious. Chrom had argued that he was being paranoid, but agreed so long as both him and Lissa were there while he trained to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself. Robin had suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and had accepted.

He finished dressing and getting ready and took his luggage outside the room, where the servants would take it to the carriage. Then he went to the crib. Lucina was wide awake and staring at everything he did. He smiled at the baby and took her in his arms.

"We're going home, Lucina. Ready?" He told her.

The baby giggled and Robin couldn't help but smile warmly at his daughter. He was going _home_. After spending his life going from one place to another and even losing most of his memory, he had gained a place he could call home.

A place to return, to feel welcomed.

Robin got out of the room and headed to the courtyard. The carriages were ready and loaded with everything they had brought and whatever they could need for the three-day journey. Frederick was checking the horses with one of the knights of the castle, and Robin got closer to him.

"I thought I would be late, but it seems I'm the second one to come."

"Ah, Robin. Good morning." The knight bowed his head slightly as a greeting. "Everything is ready to leave. Lady Lissa went to inform Lady Katerina and Jyne, and milord Chrom is bidding farewell to the army in this castle. They should be back soon."

Robin nodded and stepped back to let him work in peace. He turned around and watched the towers and the walls of the building. It wasn't nearly as impressive as the castle back at Ylisstol, but he was going to miss it. He was going to miss the peaceful time spent in there, not having to hide anything from anyone.

Just as Frederick had said, Lissa appeared soon closely followed by Katerina, and Jyne and the rest of the servants they had brought from Ylisse carrying their luggage.

"Ready to go back?" Lissa asked Robin.

"You mean, to spend three consecutive days or even more inside those things?" He pointed at the carriages. "Not really."

Lissa giggled, but her apathetic expression told him she agreed. Katerina was the only one that looked excited, since she could get to travel on horse again. Robin thought she should get one for herself in Ylisse and ride around the nearby lands; she clearly enjoyed the activity. And he was fairly sure Maribelle would join her, and perhaps Stahl as well. She wouldn't be in danger.

Chrom finally arrived, and they entered the carriages and left.

* * *

Ylisstol's main road had been decorated with flowers, and the buildings surrounding it had banners hanging with Ylisse's crest. Dozens of people were on the sides, happily yelling at their rulers' return and throwing petals. Robin took one that had gotten stuck on the horse's mane and briefly wondered if everyone had been waiting outside the houses everyday, for the last three days, awaiting their return.

The Shepherds cavaliers met them midway to the castle, and joined Robin and Frederick at the sides of the carriages until they got to the inside courtyard. Robin was a bit hesitant to leave them, his new instincts screaming to take care of his child; but there wasn't really anything he should be doing around the royal family, and he did have a lot of work to retake as the Shepherds tactician. Katerina nodded at him, understanding, with Lucina asleep on her arms; while Jyne just winked at him. Robin felt a little bit more reassured at that, and excused himself and left.

He found a couple of Shepherds on the way to his room and greeted them after such a long time, but they let him go quickly to unpack his things. His room was exactly how he had left it, just with more dust on the sheets he had put to cover the furnitures. He took them and left them on a pile on the floor; he'd take them later to the laundry room. He started unpacking.

He had almost finished when a knock on the door surprised him. Robin went to open and found Miriel staring at him. She adjusted her glasses.

"Good afternoon, Robin. I was wondering if you would join me in drinking an infusion before dinner."

He didn't have anything better to do.

"Sure." He smiled. "Your room, right?" The mage nodded. "I'll be there in a second."

Miriel left then and he finished putting everything in its place. Then he went to her room. A sweet scent surprised him when he entered. The mage indicated where he could sit and pour a cup for both of them. Robin added a teaspoon of sugar and tasted it.

"It's wonderful!" He stared at the brown liquid in delight. "Where did you get this?"

"A merchant traveler approached the capital a fortnight ago. He provided unique blends of herbs, and Sumia purchased several of them. She offered to share them with the Shepherds. I selected one I reasoned it would be of your preference."

"I see." Robin said, already thinking on paying Sumia a visit to see if he could get some more, or at least ask her if she knew if the merchant would be back at Ylisstol soon. "Did you ask her which blend it is? I taste vanilla and cinnamon…"

Miriel nodded. "It has coconut as well. It is an uncommon fruit that can only be cultivated in warmer climates. Perhaps you have never savored it before."

"I don't think I have." He confirmed, and sipped it again. It was sweet but the flavor wasn't too strong. He felt he could drink it for a long time without getting tired of it.

They remained in a comfortable silence, not an uncommon occurrence whenever they gathered. Neither of them felt the need of filling the space between them with words. But Robin noticed Miriel was staring at him more intensely than usual. She finally spoke.

"Are you well?"

Robin looked back at her, a bit thrown off at the strange and sudden question.

"I think…?"

"Allow me to elaborate." She adjusted her glasses, considering what to say "One of the soldiers that should have arrived at the capital with a weekly statement of the affairs at the eastern castle reached this place a week later than he should have." Miriel made a pause so brief Robin was half sure he had imagined it. "He bore news of the princess delivery, and they were not… as pleasant as they could have been."

Oh, she was worried about him. Robin set the teacup on the table and scratched his neck.

"Yeah, it was… bad. Really bad. One of the reasons we decided to stay there longer than we had planned. But I recovered just fine, I'm ready to keep training with the Shepherds again."

"I see. I'm pleased to hear that." The mage rarely admitted her own emotions. She must have been really worried.

They silently enjoyed the tea until Libra dutifully knocked on the door to inform them that dinner was ready. The Shepherds had prepared a party to celebrate the return of their commander and their tactician, even if only said tactician would be able to attend the celebration. He was bombarded with questions about the time spent away, and was told of numerous tactical feats the Shepherds had managed without him. He was sure Vaike was exaggerating some of them, but gave his friends his approval anyway. The dinner extended far longer that he would have liked, but he didn't complain after falling deeply asleep the moment he hit the bed.

* * *

Robin was startled awake by a strong knock on the door. He put his robe fast to hide better his unbandaged chest and went to open the door, wondering what could it be so early. Dawn hadn't even started yet.

He was bewildered to find Frederick in front of him, with an extremely tired expression and dark bags under his eyes.

"My apologies for calling you so early, Robin." The knight said. "Chrom requests your presence at his chambers. It's Lucina. She… " He hesitated and looked around, and then his expression became even more tired than it had been. "She's been crying all night."

Robin's blood turned to ice when he heard the word Lucina, but Frederick looked tired, not worried. Nothing serious was happening, Robin tried to reason. It was Lucina's first time in a strange place with strange people, and everything was louder than at the other castle. She was probably stressed and missed him, and not even Katerina or Chrom were enough for her.

"Give me a minute." Robins answered, and closed the door.

He got dressed fast and looked around for a special herb in a drawer next to the wall. He took enough herbs to make an infusion for several people and put them in a small bag, and also took one of his shirts. He hid all of it within his robes hoping the herbs hadn't lost their effect despite all the time they had been there, and got out of his room.

Frederick guided him without faltering through the corridors until they reached Chrom's door. Robin worried about someone wondering why was he being brought there so early, but almost nobody was up yet. The castle hallways were covered in shadows.

When Frederick opened the door, Robin could hear the wail of a baby and Chrom's desperate mumblings trying to calm her. Once he stepped in he saw Lissa, Katerina and Jyne were there as well. The looked like they had spent the night fighting a bear.

"Who's been missing me?" Robin asked, rising his arms.

Chrom stared at him as if he was blessing from Naga that had fallen from the sky and promptly handed over the baby. Robin had to cradle Lucina for a few minutes, but she finally calmed down, using one of her hands to grab the golden cord fastening his robes. Everyone sighed when the room became quiet.

"Thank Naga…" Chrom whined.

"I can't believe something so small can cry so much!" Jyne complained.

Katerina and Lissa looked like they were going to fall asleep on their feet.

Since the situation seemed to be finally under control, Frederick left to fetch a servant and ask her for a breakfast with a strong tea that could keep all of them awake the rest of the day. Robin sat at the couch on the oposite side to the one Lissa and Jyne were trying their hardest to not fall asleep. He lifted his shirt to nurse the baby, who started feeding inmediatly. Chrom sat next to him, but he seemed too tired to even make small talk.

"Has she been crying the whole night?" Robin asked.

"Yes." Chrom confirmed.

"She fell asleep at times, but…" Katerina informed before sighing. "She doesn't want me around for too long."

Robin had feared that would be the case once they went back to Ylisstol, and had tried to make sure Lucina spent a lot of time with Katerina so she could get used to her presence. It clearly hadn't been enough.

Frederick came back with Maggie, one of the servants that had gone to the eastern castle with them, who was carrying a trail with the breakfast. While she got close to Robin, he sneaked a paper and the bag with leaves into her hand, and stood up, getting everyone's attention.

"I think I have a way to make sure Lucina stays calm longer."

"Please, do tell." Chorm sounded almost begging.

Robin chuckled. In the end, he had been the one who had slept best of all of them, instead of the other way around. He felt bad for the stressed Lucina, but the situation was too funny for him.

"I bought the shirt I used yesterday. Babies calm down when they have the parents clothes close, so maybe she'll be calm if we wrap her around my shirt while Katerina holds her." He explained, and took the mentioned clothing from his robes to cover Lucina with it.

Lucina had finished feeding, so Robin handed over the baby to Katerina. Lucina didn't complain too much, even after they had waited for her reaction for a while. Robin heard a sigh of relief, and he was pretty sure it had been Frederick.

"But won't it be weird to have the baby around you clothes?" Chrom asked, sounding as tired as he felt.

"Yes." Robin agreed. "… Which is why I would have to wear some of Katerina's clothes under mine. I know it's not the most… hygienic solution, but-"

"It will be done." Katerina cut him. It was a solution that clearly worked; she'd do anything for a full night's sleep.

The servant finished preparing the table for the breakfast. She nodded slightly at Robin before exiting the room, but nobody noticed. Robin started serving the tea, dismissing Frederick's complaints, but he didn't pour a cup for himself. He ate as fast as he could without it being suspicious, and then recovered his child from Katerina's arms, saying it wasn't fair she had to wait to eat after such a long night. Then he got up and brought the sleeping Lucina to her cradle. He stayed with her to make sure she was calm and deeply asleep.

It didn't take long before he heard something big hitting the floor. He smirked and went back to the living room of the chamber. Everyone was deeply asleep on their respective couches, except for Lissa, who had managed to slip from it and ended up on the ground. He started getting them one by one and brought them to Chrom's bed, except for Frederick and Jyne. The mattress was big, but not that big, and Jyne and Frederick had to stay on the (very comfortable) couches. Once that was done, he cleaned up the table a bit and wrote a note. He left the room.

Maggie was waiting for him right there, looking a bit nervous. He smiled at her.

"Thank you. I don't like doing this, but I know they wouldn't have listened to me if I tried to convince them to rest this morning, and they really needed to after tonight."

The servant nodded, but she still seemed worried.

"Milord Chrom has a meeting this morning with the Council to inform them of the situation these last days at the eastern castle. What do I tell them?"

"Tell them the journey was harder than expected and he needs to rest until noon. That's when I believe they'll wake up, more or less. I wrote a report before leaving with a quick overview anyway, so if they're very insistent I can give it to you so you deliver it to them."

"And Frederick's recruits…?"

"I'll take care of that. If something goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility." He assured her. A brief flash of Frederick approaching him with an axe in his hands right after waking up appeared in his mind, but he suppressed it. It would be… fine. Probably.

He hoped so.

He gulped, feeling a bit less sure about his plan. But he pretended everything was fine and bid farewell to the servant. Then he went to the barracks and entered his room to grab some tools. People had started to get ready for the day, but he managed to break into Frederick's room without being noticed. He approached the desk and took the papers that were there. They had the training regime for the new recruits.

Frederick was going to kill him.

* * *

The knight yawned and stretched. He stopped when he noticed a soft wall at his side. That wasn't his bed, or his tent.

Frederick sat up, immediately alert and looking around. He found himself in Chrom's living room, with Jyne deeply asleep on the couch opposite to his. The door to Chrom's room was half opened, and he saw Lissa, Chrom and Katerina asleep in there. Then he noticed the room was bright, and a quick side glance to the window confirmed the sun was so high it would be noon before long.

He jumped out of the coach. What the hell had happened? He had asked the servant for a strong tea that would keep him awake until night. He wasn't supposed to have fallen asleep like that. And everyone else seemed to be in the same state, the only one missing being Robin.

Wait. Robin. He had been the only one who hadn't drank while eating. Frederick's clouded mindstate hadn't thought anything about it at the time, but it was really strange. The knight instinctively looked at the table with the breakfast leftovers and discovered a note. He read it.

 _You all looked awfully tired, so I changed the herbs for others that would make you sleep. Sorry! But we just came from a long journey and today is your best chance to rest. And don't worry, Freddy, I'm taking care of your recruits for you._

 _-R_

Frederick unconsciously crumpled the paper with his hands. That man had _drugged_ them. He could have talked with them, explained the situation and convinced them to rest for the day. But instead, he had exploited their trust and made them drink a sleep-inducing beverage and knock them out the whole morning.

He got up and shook Jyne so she would wake up. When she did, he handed her the note. She blinked after reading it.

"Tell that bastard I love him. Platonically." She smiled. And slowly stretched while Frederick stared at her in bewilderment.

"How can you say that?!"

"Come on, Freddy." The knight winced at the nickname. There was something else he had to talk about with Robin. "We were tired and needed rest. He clearly had our best interests in mind when he did it. And this castle won't fall apart just because you didn't check the dust on the windows one morning."

Frederick was going to protest, but Jyne raised her hand dismissively at him and got up. "Go see him if you're so worried, but I'm sure he has everything under control. He always does. I'll wake up everyone else meanwhile."

Frederick would have complained, but seeing Robin was a priority, so he just nodded and got outside the chamber. Multiple servants fled when they saw him walking through the hallways.

Once in the canteen, he found Sumia and Sully resting from the training while talking about horses. They greeted him when he entered, and he approached them to ask about Robin's whereabouts.

"He's on the training field with the recruits, like you asked him to." Sully replied, giving him a weird face. "Did all that weariness finally get to you and you forgot or what?"

"Maybe you should rest for the rest of the day too?" Sumia shyly proposed. She gave him a warm smile. "We were relieved when Robin told us you had tasked him with some of his duties this morning so you could rest."

"Yeah. I bet you still did those weird things like picking rocks and all that while you were at the other castle."

They were relieved by his absence? But he was a knight; he was supposed to be always ready for everything that could happen, always sharp, always strong.

"What do you mean?" He asked them, cautiously.

"You're not a machine, man." Sully answered. "You still need to rest, like all of us. And you didn't seem to pay a lot of attention to yourself during the war with Plegia, despite Robin's insistence."

"Things were always fine in battle."

"Because Robin always put you in places where you'd be at a lesser risk, and sent people to help you." Sumia replied with a worried expression. "Since you didn't rest much, he had to think of ways to keep you safe when your weariness hit."

He had ended up a liability? "Why wasn't I told before?!"

"He didn't want you to feel guilty, so didn't mentioned it to nearly anyone. Virion was one of the few that noticed towards the end of the war." Sumia explained.

"That guy is a bit negative, so he probably overthought things. You were tired, but not a defenceless child!" Sully laughed.

Frederick bid the girls farewell and went to the training fields. The talk had calmed down his rage substantially, and it explained why Robin had taken such a measure to make him rest. He hadn't listened before, and it wasn't likely he would listen now, in a much less dire situation. He was also surprised at how much concern the others had expressed towards him.

The tactician was overseeing the exercises from a higher point, checking something on a couple of papers he was holding. Frederick approached him slowly, but Robin didn't notice. Frederick cleared his throat to announce his presence. Robin quickly stared at him, startled.

"Good day, Robin." He said.

"Good day, Frederick." Robin answered. He was proud his voice wasn't an octave higher.

Frederick looked at the training soldiers. They seemed to be doing proper exercises, which surprised him a bit given Robin trained more frequently with the mages.

"I was told I gave you some trouble planning during the last campaign due to my… stubbornness" He admitted. "I apologize."

"No problem. Taking care of all of you is my work. Particularly of the ones that push themselves too far" Robin said, with a small smile.

Frederick smiled, despite himself. "I did need the rest. Thank you."

"I'd say 'I'll do it again if you want!', but I really don't want to. Just…" Robin sighed and stared at Frederick. "You work extremely hard for all of us, even when you don't have to. I'm not telling you to stop, just listen to us when we tell you to slow down. We're worried about you."

Frederick nodded. It was the least he could do; or try to do. They stood there watching the soldiers train. More of them looked happy when they saw Frederick and expressed their relief to know their superior had rested. Yet another sign he should start to keep himself in mind as much as he kept others.

"I see you got my personal notes, that I keep inside my room, to train the soldiers better."

Fuck.

"Maybe…?" Robin said, tentatively.

"Since you had no problem resting last night, I assume you won't mind running around the training field for a couple of hours, right?"

"…Right." The tactician resigned himself to a slow death running after everyone else had finished their exercises.

May Naga save him.

* * *

 **So.**

 **My computer is basically dead. The good news is I haven't lost anything, so this fic won't be abandoned. The bad news is I won't be able to update too regularly. Sorry! They're trying to fix my computer, but it doesn't look it will be easy nor it will happen soon.**


	18. Chapter 18

Raimi's visit at the Ylissean capital was unexpected, and it gave Robin a bad feeling. She brought bad news, as he feared, telling them about the aggressive behaviour of the neighbour country and their imminent arrival to the western feroxian port. Flavia requested Chrom's presence at Regna Ferox as soon as possible, and he accepted. After the audience, the king and his tactician went to the barracks and told the Shepherds they would leave the next day, and there was unrest among the soldiers. After two years of peace, the news of the potential imminent attack weren't welcomed. As well as things had gone, there was still much to do to restore Ylisse to it's proper self.

To Chrom's surprise, after making sure the servants had started packing the essentials and going back to the barracks to check on the Shepherds, he found out Robin was getting everything ready as well. The Plegian man rolled his eyes when Chrom asked him about it.

"Did you seriously plan to leave your tactician behind?"

"Lucina still needs you." The king frowned, worried about their child.

"We already found a wet-nurse for her, and Katerina and Jyne will stay." He replied, looking sure of himself. "I know Lissa and you were wet-nursed as well, she'll be fine. She will need for both of us to return, and I'm going to make sure that happens."

Chrom pressed his lips, still not fully convinced. "Promise me you'll turn back if there's danger."

"No." Robin replied, with a frown that showed he wasn't going to change his mind. "I'm your tactician. It's my job to stay with you, with all of you, until the end. The same way you have a duty to come back to your people. But I will be careful. I have no intention of dying."

Chrom sighed and nodded. He wasn't convinced and his chest got tense with worry thinking about the incoming battles, but could hardly argue with a reasoning like that. And he knew well Robin certainly wasn't defenceless.

"I'm just—" He started, but Robin interrupted him with a peck on the lips, and stared at him with a warm smile, showing he wasn't angry with him.

"Worried." The tactician finished the sentence. "I know."

Chrom leaned his head on Robin's shoulder, feeling his warmth.

"Yeah."

* * *

The Shepherds arrived at the summit several days later. Flavia didn't have many details on the coming force during the meeting, but there was a Shepherd that did: Virion. Robin wasn't amused.

"Are you telling me you waited two yearsto tell us about a potential threat to our kingdom when we could have started taking measures against it months ago?" He almost growled at the archer, thinking of the many measures he could have already started making to prepare for the imminent invasion.

He looked like he wanted to slam his magic tomes into his face. Virion looked away, uncomfortable, trying to excuse himself saying he had kept track of what was happening all the way there sending letters, but knowing that still didn't explain why he hadn't told his tactician anything.

"I stayed behind to keep an eye on the situation." Cherche said. "We weren't sure if Walhart would want to come to Ylisse as well, so he didn't want to alarm all of you unnecessarily, knowing you were fighting your own war. But we confirmed it a couple of weeks ago."

Robin clenched his teeth and suppressed the urge to yell at them, clutching his papers so tight they creased and crumpled. He was called "the Conqueror" for Naga's sake! Of course he would want to conquer anything he could find. And even if they didn't want to be alarmists about it, the war had still ended two years prior! They had lost so much time...

"They have the strongest cavalry in the world." Virion timidly added, knowing that was knowledge Robin would appreciate, but still didn't dare to look at his or Chrom's angry face. "They will arrive at the port in a matter of days. You'll need troops experienced in fighting cavalry." He added for the Khan.

"I hope you are volunteering, then! Since you're a master with the bow and you've fought a thousand battles!" Robin said, with an awfully cheerful expression, staring intensely at him.

Virion gulped. "O-of course!"

The meeting was done a few moments later, and Robin stormed off out of the room and went straight to the tactician's office to try to start planning the defenses of the town before the imminent attack.

"What were you thinking, Virion?" The noble flinched a little at Chrom's angry voice.

"It was a local problem. Valm is almost as big as this continent, it doesn't have a lot of contact with Regna Ferox or Plegia, and the journey through the sea is long and dangerous. Bringing his army here to fight would take an immense amount of resources. With how long the war at Valm has been, we thought perhaps he would rather wait several years to recover, time in which we could come here to tell you about it and prepare a way to strike back and free Valm." Cherche explained, while Virion vigorously nodded his head behind her.

It made sense, but still… Chrom sighed and shook his head, turning to leave the room while Frederick followed him in silence after shooting a disapproving glance at Virion.

"This hasn't been your smartest idea." Flavia said. Her expression wasn't as harsh as the Ylisseans', but she wasn't pleased either.

"No, it wasn't." The archer conceded defeat.

* * *

They arrived at the town a couple of days before the Valmese ships, which gave Robin time to think carefully about their next moves. He asked the people in town to leave some obstacles around the port, hoping the Valmese horses would have trouble moving around. He still thought that claiming to have the strongest cavalry in the world was arrogant from Valm, but he knew better than to underestimate a foe he hadn't even fought against yet.

The Valmese finally arrived, making absurd demands Chrom didn't hesitate to refuse, and opposed them. Cherche was a welcomed addition to the Shepherds, giving them more aerial advantage. Since she hadn't trained with the rest of the Ylissean army yet and the tactician still wasn't too sure about how she would behave in combate, Robin told her to keep track of the other two pegasi, and to follow their instructions in battle. It seemed like the safest option until he started getting an idea of what exactly she could do.

Despite Robin's planning, the battle was hard. The Valmese were as strong as Virion had claimed, and while the Shepherds didn't suffer any loss, their Feroxi allies and a few of the new Ylissean soldiers weren't as lucky. It troubled the tactician, even if at the same time, it showed how far the Shepherds had come. The Feroxi weren't exactly pushovers, and they had had trouble with the fight. If the main army managed to arrive at the continent, they would be done for. Their only option was fighting them before they could arrive.

There was only one option they could take. One no one really liked.

"We need to get ships and fight them on the sea, but we don't have enough of them for that." Robin tried to consider their options aloud, putting a hand on his neck. "Neither Ylisse nor Regna Ferox care much for fighting at sea."

"So we need aid from a kingdom that does and also happens to be wealthy enough…" Basilio started, but stopped before finishing the sentence, as if he didn't want to.

Robin widened his eyes and stared at him, quickly realizing where he was going. "Plegia!"

Chrom refused immediately, but the others tried to convince him. Gold and ships were what they needed to avoid being conquered. They couldn't wait until the next Valmese cavalry boats arrived at port. They would be many more than the small company that had just arrived as scouts. They had barely won against them. And Robin didn't think Plegia would refuse either; Whalhart was a threat to all of them.

"… Very well. Send a messenger and request a summit immediately." Chrom accepted, clenching his teeth. He still didn't like it.

But if Robin was sure that was their only option, there wasn't a lot to argue on.

* * *

Robin vividly remembered the last time he had been at the Plegian capital. It was a time he remembered in confusion and frustration, and that had ended in failure. Chrom had managed to end the war later regardless, but despite the years, the tactician couldn't stop thinking there was something else he could have done.

The small fortress at Carrion island seemed to have a similar design. It had thick walls with small windows that allowed it to isolate itself from the outer heat of the desert. It had a large pool connected to a close river in the lower floor of the castle that kept the air cool and humid. The building was surprisingly fresh and pleasant for the Ylisseans, who hadn't expected it to be better than the hot land surrounding it. The negotiations were done on the second floor, which was partially covered in shadows and substantially creepier than the lower floor. It was also a lot cooler. Frederick in particular seemed to thank the change due to the heat his thick armor absorbed.

The new king of Plegia was tall and slender, with a skin so dark it made his golden accessories shine even brighter. He was accompanied by Aversa, who Robin didn't remember fondly after the incident with Maribelle, and a man with the robes of the High Hierophant with his face covered with a hood. Seeing those clothes made Robin tense. He didn't know or remember much, but Tharja had confirmed for him that not just anyone could wear them.

It got worse when Frederick demanded him to uncover himself. The Hierophant was exactly like Robin. Tactician and Exalt exchanged an alarmed look right before Validar declared they could start the negotiations. Chrom tried to protest, asking about the Hierophant, but Validar dismissed him. Finding people similar to each other wasn't as hard as many thought, and he insisted they start talking about the boats. The Hierophant smiled creepily at them and shrugged, and then got closer to a pillar and leaned on it, not even bothering to hide his disinterest in their talks. Robin tried to pay attention to what Chrom, Frederick and Validar were saying, but he barely heard the words as his mind tried to find an explanation to the Hierophant's appearance, and he shot furtive glances in his direction. He almost didn't realize when the meeting finished and had to leave.

"Are you alright?" Chrom asked him once outside, noticing he had gone pale after they had started moving away from the building.

"I… think so…" Robin bit his lips, nervous, while staring at the blank papers he had not written anything on at all during the negotiation. He was aware of his heart beating faster than usual and the small itch on his arms.

"Who was that guy? Do you have a twin?"

"How should I know?!" The tactician replied in frustration, abruptly turning his face away from Chrom while biting his lips and scratching his neck. Chrom widened his eyes at the outburst, not expecting him to be so stressed about it, and softly grabbed one of his arms. Robin accepted the gesture, but didn't say anything else.

It was a possibility he had considered, but he thought it strange the few memories of his childhood he recovered had never included any other constant presence besides his mother. And she didn't seem to have ever mentioned him having siblings, as far as he could recall. For the first time in a long while, he cursed his lack of memories.

He had no idea what was going on, and as far as he knew, it could be very dangerous.

Robin tossed around in his tent, trying to sleep. He finally gave up, thinking at least he could hide in the food wagon or something like that and take a nap on the journey back to the Feroxi port. He got outside the tent and went for a walk.

They had camped in a forest not too far from the fortress. The island had surprisingly green areas given the general scenery of the Plegian country, if it still was uncomfortably warm and noticeably less forested than Ylisse, and Robin thought it was a nice change of pace. He shivered remembering the heat of the dunes that covered most of the country. He was glad he hadn't actually grown up there. Heat was the worst.

It was then when he felt something inside his head. He stopped walking and blinked. It was like… a voice, but whatever it was saying sounded unintelligible. He realized his left arm was itching a little. He grabbed it, puzzled, and suddenly felt a presence in front of him. He looked and saw Validar looking sternly at him. Robin stepped back, immediately alert. How had he arrived without him noticing?

"So you still refuse to open your heart…"

"What?" Robin replied, confused about his words. But then, the voice in his head grew louder and multiplied, becoming thousands of yells that made his head hurt. He grabbed his head while he fell to his knees. "V-Validar… What are you doing?! Stop!" He groaned, grabbing his head in pain and realizing who was making that sensation.

"Don't dare to speak to your father like that, boy!" Validar replied, frowning at him while ignoring his obvious pain. "To think you would join the servants of Naga instead of coming back to your rightful place… How disappointing!"

"Robin!" Chrom's yell startled both men.

Validar frowned in the direction of the voice and disappeared. Robin felt immediately better while Chrom crouched next to him to check he was fine.

"Are you alright? I heard yelling…" He asked.

"Yes." Robin confirmed, still breathing hard. "Validar was… here."

Chrom stared at him in surprise and then looked around. He couldn't see signs of anyone having been there with Robin, or having run away.

"He appeared in front of me and started talking, but… my head started hurting a lot." He said, deciding to hide the other voices from Chrom at the time. He was too scared to think about what that could mean at the moment. "His voice sounded slightly odd too, now that I think about it. Perhaps it was an illusion, and that's why he disappeared so fast..." Robin explained.

"Can you stand?"

Robin nodded and got up, while Chrom grabbed his hand. Robin felt a little better. The itching sensation in his arm and the voices inside his head disappeared completely.

The tactician then realized the Plegian King had called himself "father", widening his eyes all of a sudden. Father. He had never known anything about him, and he couldn't remember his mother telling him anything about him. He could faintly recall having asked her once about him, only for her to tell him he was very, very far away. He had thought it meant he was dead. But if he wasn't; if he was alive and well and she had still refused to take him with her and her child, or his mother refused to even speak of him, he couldn't have been a very good person. After what had just happened, Robin had no trouble in putting him on the "garbage people" mental list.

"He… said a bunch of nonsense. I don't even know what he was trying." The tactician admitted, feeling lost about the words he had just heard.

"Milord!" They heard a horse coming from the woods. Frederick, axe in hand, got closer to them, running with a worried expression painted on his face. "At last I find you. The camp has just been attacked by Risen!"

"What?! But we made sure the area was safe and that there weren't Risen around!" Robin replied. It made no sense that the monsters could appear so fast. And after the long day they had, such a strange incident wasn't making him feel better.

"We have to go back." Chrom quickly took control of the situation. The other two nodded and they went back to camp.

The place was completely chaotic, the Shepherds were trying to defend themselves and protecting the camp while the undead army tried to push them and close around them. Robin threw magic to the closest monsters and let Chrom and Frederick cross the line and join the others while he barked orders. Everyone moved, reorganizing after the surprise attack. Robin ran around, shooting magic to confuse the monsters and helping his partners break free from them. Whenever the risen detected him, he stopped attacking to run again to another place, to make sure they wouldn't follow.

Soon, his arms had started itching again, and his heart was beating fast because of the stress. At some point he felt a presence behind him and turned around. A huge risen with a sharp axe had gotten close to him. Robin looked around only to realize no Shepherd was close enough to help him, and they wouldn't even notice him, busy as they were fighting their own monsters. He stepped back, trying to get some distance while he opened the book, but the monster was faster than he had expected. It raised its weapon so close Robin knew he was going to die.

"Stop!" He ordered, with a yell filled with despair.

To his surprise, the Risen obeyed. It kept the weapon above his head, but didn't attempt to move. He was waiting for more orders, Robin realized. Orders from him.

The tactician's heart was hammering inside his chest, and not because of the exercise, while cold sweat started forming on his back. He felt like throwing up. He didn't know why the Risen was suddenly obeying him, but it couldn't be a good sign. He raised his hand and shot fire to the monster, finishing it before something else could happen. Then he ran behind a close tree and leaned on it, trying to calm his rashed breath. His arms were itching a lot. His hands were shaking as he held his tome on front of his face.

What had happened was… No, he didn't have time to think about that. Everyone was in danger and they needed their tactician to defend themselves properly after the surprise attack. He took deep breaths, one, two, three times. He opened and closed his tome a couple of times, trying to relax, to focus on the battle. Everything else could wait until they could confirm everyone was safe.

Robin peaked from behind the tree and looked at the Shepherds. They had successfully regrouped and they were finishing the battle while Chrom yelled his last orders in the middle of the fray, and didn't look badly hurt. It also didn't look like they had noticed what had just happened. Robin sighed, relieved his sudden absence hadn't grave consequences, and then he reprimanded himself for thinking that. They were the Shepherds, not defenceless kittens. He tried to calm down a little bit more before he approached them with a more relaxed expression. He was the tactician, they couldn't see him panic all of a sudden. Or ever.

He stepped out from behind the tree a few minutes later, and Frederick got closer to him quickly once he spotted him coming closer. The knight confirmed no one had been badly hurt. He also informed him of something else.

"A Plegian mage? And why did he join us?" Robin asked with a frown, confused.

Frederick seemed wary about it as well. "Apparently, he wishes to see blood and has decided our side is the most… favorable for such development."

Robin realized the knight wasn't joking. "What?"

"Hi! I'm Henry!" A joyful voice sounded at his side. He turned his head to see a smiling dark mage with dark skin. "I was told you fight a lot of dead things. I want to kill dead things too! Can I join you?" He talked as if he was asking them to join them on a treasure hunt.

Robin didn't like that at all. "No. Thanks for the help. Now leave before we declare you a threat too." He declared.

Henry pouted. "But you're a Grimleal Hierophant! How can I be more dangerous than you?"

The image of his smirking twin in the same clothes as him crossed Robin's eyes. He gritted his teeth. "I'm not!"

"How are you wearing those clothes, then?"

The snow, the blood. Her. Robin's face turned to stone while he glared at Henry. "He was after me. So I killed him." He replied, coldly.

The declaration made every Shepherd close enough to hear the conversation look at him in surprise, but Henry just smiled even more.

"I knew I did well asking to join you. Come on, let me help! I'm a very strong mage!"

Robin groaned. Gods, whatever. If he tried something, he would kill him and be done with this. He looked back at Frederick, who only had a few seconds to recompose his expression and hide his surprise at Robin's words. "Where's Chrom?" He was sure he had seen him fighting not that long ago.

"Marth appeared and saved him from a Risen. She told him she wanted to talk with him in private, we are waiting for them to come back."

In private…? Robin had a feeling he knew what she was telling him. And that was something he was very interested in hearing as well.

"We'll have to warn Katerina someone is gonna steal her man!" Vaike laughed.

"Shut up." Robin glared at him. He never cared about Vaike's stupid jokes, but adding Marth to them was more than he was willing to stand.

"Woah, relax. It was just a joke." Vaike replied, puzzled by the dry answer.

"Yeah, a joke you'll regret once they come back." He replied. Then sighed. "I'll go see them. Start picking up the camp. This place isn't safe. We should leave the island and go back to Ferox."

He walked back into the woods. Chrom and Marth weren't too far from the camp, hugging near the river. Robin smiled softly when he saw that and approached them. They separated when they heard him and stared. Chrom's expression was a mix of surprise, anxiety and nervousness. Marth looked like she had been crying, but Robin noticed her a lot less tense than the last times he had seen her.

"You're not going to believe this." Chrom started, staring at Robin with a smile, while affectionately grabbing Marth's shoulders.

Robin's smile widened at that. "I think I already know."

"Yes, father. You guessed it right." Lucina confirmed, looking down while her shoulders lowered. She wasn't proud of how she had run away in panic the last time she had seen him.

Chrom's expression revealed he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What? How did you know?!" Robin was good at reasoning, but knowing something like that beforehand seemed just magic.

"We had a talk some months ago that raised my suspicions." He explained, with a smile that showed how much fun he was having staring at Chrom's expression of disbelief. "I didn't tell you because I had the feeling she wouldn't have wanted me to."

"I'm sorry I ran away." Lucina apologized, clenching her fists.

"Don't worry. I understand perfectly." He assured her, smiling warmly at her and stepping closer. "You needed time. I'm just glad to see you safe."

Lucina hugged him as well, shaking slightly, but she managed to not cry again. Robin closed his arms around her and held her. Despite having suspected who she was for a long time, it felt a little strange to be hugging a daughter that was already even taller than him when his child had been born a few months before.

After a while, she stepped back and her face became serious. She grabbed the handle of her Falchion and stared at her parents. Both of them noticed the change in her mood, and became equally serious. Whatever she was going to tell them, it wouldn't be pretty.

"I traveled to the past. We have to avoid my future." She explained, and slowly told them the story. Her parents listened carefully to her words.

"It sounds like a nightmare…" Chrom said with a tense expression after she had finished, looking at Robin to see what he thought about it.

Robin nodded, completely agreeing with him. He had put a hand on his chin, carefully considering his daughter's words, but the frown on his face and his pressed lips indicated clearly he needed more information. "Do you know anything else about Grima's resurrection that could help us avoid it?"

Lucina shook her head in defeat. "I only know the death of the Exalt was the detonating point, but many of the consequences of the event didn't happen in this timeline. I'm not sure how we can advance now. I've been trying to gather information about it for the last two years, but the situation is just too different from what I knew from my future. The thought of going to Plegia to investigate crossed my mind, but… it's very possible I would have been unable to find anything unless I asked the Grimleals themselves. And that seemed too dangerous." She excused herself, staring down, disappointed in her own cowardice.

Chrom got closer to her and gently stroked her hair to comfort her. "Don't worry about it, we can see you are making a great effort. Not going to Plegia was definitely a good idea. If they had realized, they wouldn't have let you get away." Chrom looked at the tactician. "You have any ideas?" He asked, hopeful.

"I'm afraid not." He replied, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "It's too little information to work with at the moment. As urgent as this news is, there's nothing we can do unless we have more clues. And Walhart is not going to wait for us to research. We have to go to Valm and defeat him or he'll conquer the continent and make things worse."

Chrom pressed his lips, not happy with the news, but he understood there was nothing else for them to do. He nodded at him and then turned to Lucina. "I'm sorry, Lucina, but we can't help you just yet."

She shook her head at his words. There was no need to apologize.

"I understand. Walhart is a threat as well, and the resurrection of Grima won't come about for several years. I will join the Shepherds and help you."

Chrom smiled when he heard that, but Robin looked at her a little worried. "Are you sure?" He asked her.

She nodded. "I'm ready now."

She stared at him with a determined look on her face. She had clearly been thinking about that moment. Perhaps this wasn't exactly how she had thought she would try to become part of the Shepherds, but she had wanted to join them at some point or another and help, trying to avoid their grim future. Robin knew she was telling the truth.

"Very well." He approved, to the delight of Chrom, who was clearly excited about fighting at the side of his daughter, even if he tried to hide it. "Let's go back with the rest."

They returned with the Shepherds, who had already finished cleaning up the camp and were ready to start marching again, like Robin had ordered. Chrom introduced them to his child, which left every Shepherd astonished, but they quickly believed it given the undeniable resemblance to her royal father. Lucina then told them her story, but she left out the part in which she was Robin's daughter, and said she was the child of queen Katerina instead.

Everyone had grave expressions when she finished, and Lissa promised they would find her companions. Robin added it was possible they would find some clue about Grima on Valm, and asked everyone to keep an eye on that. Then they finished preparing packing up camp and left the dangerous island, while Robin tried not to think about the risen that had obeyed him and his itching arms.

* * *

 **No, this isn't dead!**

 **I'm very sorry for the wait, but had a lot of trouble with this chapter, and nothing I wrote left me satisfied. But at last, it's here!**


	19. Chapter 19

When Robin heard about the legendary treasure in the ruins a day away from the port, he hesitated. Something like that would definitely help them in the campaign against Walhart that had just started, but preparing everything they needed to board the ships and travel to the neighboring continent was more urgent. He was also skeptical about the existence and usefulness of said treasure.

It was actually Chrom who convinced him to go with a small group who could move fast and check it while he finished the preparations with the rest of the Shepherds. The treasure could still be helpful, so Robin obliged; and asked a couple of fliers, a cavalier and a healer to go with him. And barely a day later they arrived at the ruins.

The place was made with a light blue stone and there were pools of water everywhere. It was quite pretty and not nearly as collapsed as the tactician had feared. He turned to Sully, but the cavalier assured him the horse would be fine walking though there. There wasn't too much debris. He nodded, and looked around, considering their best options. Dividing the group was the fastest option, but they didn't know what could be lying around there, and with Libra as their only one healer, Robin didn't feel comfortable leaving one group without support.

But Zelcher and Sumia could fly and explore the outer parts easily; and Sumia had actually started to learn how to use staves… even if she wasn't very successful yet. She was determined to become an expert, however. Robin agreed to let both of them on their own, and leaded Sully and Libra inside the ruins.

The had descended only a couple of floors when they started hearing noise and someone yelling. They stopped for a second before hurrying into the next room. A small group of risen were fighting a dark haired girl with a dark robe. She took cover behind a collapsed wall and shoot a couple of fire spells before running away again. Robin helped her as soon as he estimated he was close enough, throwing a lightning spell to one of the risen. Sully spurred on her horse and impaled another risen. The girl saw her chance and finished off the third with a powerful fire spell.

The Shepherds and the girl stood alert, waiting for more monsters to approach. They lowered their guards when it looked like there weren't more around. Robin was going to tell them what to do next when a single yell coming from the girl they had just saved froze everyone's thoughts:

"Fatheeeeeeeeer!"

Followed by quick footsteps and a thump when the girl threw herself onto Robin to hug him so strongly he had trouble breathing.

"I've looked everywhere for you! I wasn't very sure of where I ended up, though, so maybe everywhere was just the surrounding area…"

The girl stared at him with a pout Robin would have thought it was cute if his brain wasn't having trouble processing what she had said before. He stared at her, her face staring at him with worry sightly under his chin. The tactician instinctively looked at her eyes… and he found the Brand of the Exalt on her right eye. Robin felt his breath leave his body. He nervously looked at the Shepherds in front of him.

"Uhm…" He tried to speak, his mind racing for an answer that would satisfy his daughter –I have another daughter?! – while leaving the rest of the Shepherds in the dark about… her other parent. He got paler and his hands started shaking, his anxiety rising when he realized he was unable to find such an answer. The girl stared at him, confused.

A boisterous laughter startled both of them, and Sully's arm grabbed him by the neck with a strength that should have been inhuman. "So someone will manage to get you away from those books and maps of yours for a while, eh? And who will be the lucky lady?" The cavalier grinned widely, delighted by Robin's apparent embarrassment that had left him speechless, and looked at the girl, waiting for an answer.

The girl's eyes flashed so fast to her father's face nobody noticed. She slowly let go of Robin and grabbed her chin while closing her eyes. Her expression slowly became more tense and worried until she opened them back and stared at them as if she was going to cry.

"I… don't remember! Or why I'm here! D-dad…?!" She stared at him, pleading.

Robin gulped and scratched his neck, trying to think. Then he grabbed the girl's arm.

"Okey, time out. I need to talk with her first." He said, and then left the room for one they had already explored previously, quite away from the rest. He didn't give time to the girl to answer or to the Shepherds to complain.

She followed him in silence until they found small room with most walls intact and water flowing on a pool on the furthest place from the entrance. It seemed to connect to the other water circuit they had seen while exploring the ruins. Robin let go of her arm and took a couple of steps away, turning his back on her while closing his eyes and pinching his nose, teeth gritted. The girl watched anxiously.

"I'm sorry! I didn't think they wouldn't know and-" She was shut off by a quick palm raised in her direction.

Robin breathed slowly, trying to calm down and think properly again. The girl respected it and said nothing while waiting for him to talk again.

"Alright." The tactician finally said after a few minutes. "Let's start from the beginning." He slowly turned to look at her. "What's your name?"

"Morgan." She answered. Her expression became a little less worried when she realized Robin wasn't angry at her mistake as much as stressing about how to fix it.

Robin nodded at her answer. "And you came from the future to fix it…" His daughter nodded this time.

"Everyone thinks you're Katerina's daughter… except for the Shepherds." It was the only thing that made sense. Robin had trouble believing someone would slip in such a way unless they thought there was nothing to hide. Specially coming from his daughter.

Morgan nodded again while staring at him. She looked like she was going to cry, the tanned skin of her face getting a reddish tone around her nose. Robin sighted.

"Okey. Well, since they already know you're my daughter…" _I_ have another daughter! "the best option right now is to hide you're Chrom's daughter…" He thought about her fast reaction from before. "The amnesia idea is not a bad one. We can keep it up until I…" Robin deflated and pressed his lips. "tell the others…" He shook his head and stared at Morgan, trying to smile at her to reassure her, but not succeeding completely.

It wasn't that he didn't trust them… but the prospect made him nervous. Like when you're still nervous when confessing to someone even if you know that person reciprocates your feelings…

"Ok, amnesia then!" Morgan agreed while clenching her fists and smiling, determined.

"Should I pretend I forgot everything, or maybe leave some memories…? Since I'm already not 'remembering' my 'mother', maybe I could pretend I don't remember the rest of Shepherds…?"

"It's not a bad idea." Robin approved. "Lucina told us she came with some friends. You could still say you remember them, since you're probably closer to them than to us."

"Luci's with you already?!" The girl grinned, and Robin couldn't help but smile at her obvious happiness.

"Yes. She joined us about a couple of weeks ago. But don't go around calling her sister…"

"I won't!" She promised. "Ok, so friends. Something else?"

"How about something general about the future, but you have holes with most details?"

Morgan nodded again, but Robin didn't fail to notice she was less enthusiastic than before. Something clicked inside his head, and approached her.

"Well, then we have a plan. We should be fine as long as we stay away from the capital, we'll think about something else later. And now…" He softly grabbed the confused girl's shoulders. He felt a strange satisfaction realizing she was only a bit taller than him. Lucina turned to be almost as tall as Chrom. Knowing his other daughter was actually a little more like Robin was… nice. He didn't know how to describe it exactly -this is suspicious, and bad, and someone could notice, and– but he liked it.

"Are you alright, Morgan?" He asked softly. She stared back blankly. "Lucina told us about the future you experienced."

Morgan's smile dropped and she looked away. "Sure!" She said, but her voice sounded strained. She tried to smile again, but she just managed to form a strange grimace while tears formed on her eyes. Robin blinked in surprise at her sudden change.

"Morgan?" He asked, worried.

"It was horrible!" She yelled, failing to not sob while tears started to stream from her eyes.

"You left… and father… and n-never came back…!" Her sobbing didn't let her speak anymore and she just threw herself on his father's arms. Robin hugged her back, trying to comfort her despite being taken by surprise at her sudden change.

Robin let her cry until she managed to calm down. Then cleaned the tears on her face while she closed her eyes, exhausted at the outburst, while still grabbing one of her hands to show his support. "Better?"

Morgan sniffed and tried to smile. "Y-yeah."

"You've been through something so hard I can barely imagine it, and cross the sea of time to stop it from happening. But you and Lucina are my daughters," His heart leaped when he said that. She was his daughter. He hugged her a bit tighter. There were few times where he could say that… too few… "and I know if there's someone capable of it, it's both of you."

He smiled at her, trying to reassure her. She sniffed one more time and nodded, breathing deeply to regain her composure. Robin gave her some time and then proposed they went back with the others. They still had more ruins to explore. Morgan, agreed, excited.

Despite his best efforts to focus, Robin remained distracted while inside the ruins. He couldn't stop thinking about Morgan. Or, more precisely, he couldn't stop thinking about how she looked. Her hair was a dark brown neither him or Chrom had, and her skin was definitely darker than her parents'. It wasn't too dissimilar from Katerina's skin and hair tone, actually, but Robin had noticed several Plegian features in her, which Katerina definitely didn't have, so she couldn't be her biological mother. Chrom's blood had proven to be strong once again, and they were things you probably couldn't find unless you knew where to look at, but she clearly looked a bit more like Robin than Lucina.

But Robin's skin and hair weren't dark at all, and yet, she seemed to have inherited them from him. She looked like the child of an average Plegian and a average Ylissean; darker than most Ylisseans but lighter than most Plegians. She looked how she should have in case Robin wasn't pale as snow. She looked entirely normal, which left Robin with a single, unsettling conclusion.

He wasn't. He didn't look like he should. There was something wrong with him, within him, that manifested as having a weird appearance. It was probably related to the brand of his hand, which he tried very hard to not think about, and was always hidden under gloves or black mittens, even when he was alone.

Whatever it was wrong with him, at least he could be sure it hadn't passed onto Morgan, nor to Lucina. She looked a lot like Chrom, her paleness was likely thanks to that, and she still wasn't as pale as Robin anyway. She had probably inherited so much blood from Chrom whatever affected Robin didn't develop in her.

That's what he hoped, at least. His memory was still a mystery for the most part, but he remembered the persecution he had suffered from the Grimleal. The great majority of Grimleal were Plegian, and he was a Plegian that looked weird, always being hunted by them.

It couldn't be a coincidence. Robin felt afraid.

* * *

Robin was anxious. He wanted to talk with Chrom first before telling the Shepherds about Morgan, but he wasn't supposed to have a particular reason for that. The group probably thought it was a good idea to tell everyone soon so they could help them locate the mysterious mother Robin didn't know of yet and Morgan didn't supposedly remember. So Robin just prayed Chrom was really busy with something that would make him stay away from most Shepherds while Sully dropped the bomb.

It worked, somehow, and the canteen where most where reunited to have dinner lacked the presence of the Exalt, his sister, his retainer and his daughter. Robin literally couldn't believe his luck, and completely ignored everyone else's prompts about Morgan's mother, a couple of bets, and an insistence from many that the mother was Miriel, despite her cold denials about any kind of romantic relationship. The lack of interest and embarrassment from both of them convinced them Morgan was unlikely to be fruit of their relationship. He sat next to Morgan to eat, wanting to be around in case Chrom arrived.

He didn't eat much, and when the door of the building opened and the ruler of Ylisse crossed it, he had trouble not jumping from his seat and going to speak with him immediately. He had already thought of using the old spear found in the ruins as an excuse, but he thought that maybe acting like he was in a hurry would be suspicious, so maybe he could wait a few seconds before approaching him and-

"Hey, Chrom! You're not gonna believe it, but Robin is actually gonna have a kid!"

Or he could kill Vaike sending him against the biggest group of sword fighters he could find in Valm. It was an option, too.

Robin stared at his food with a frozen smile, blinking slowly and trying to find reasons to not throw his spoon at the blonde axe fighter. He didn't find any, but his brain decided to be less confrontational, and he simply turned his head slowly towards Chrom group, gave them a forced smile and shrug.

"Yup." He pointed at his daughter next to him with his head. She waved enthusiastically at them.

The newcomers stared at him, unblinking. Lissa had at least put her hands in front of her mouth, but Chrom's mouth had become a tempting place to explore for any nearby fly. Lucina looked positively angry, and Morgan flinched and stared down when she met her expression. Frederick was the only one able to regain his composure fast enough. He cleared his throat.

"So, she comes from the future as well."

"Yeah... but I don't remember much." The girl answered quietly, looking down. Robin didn't know if it was because she feared not sounding convincing, or if she was been way too convincing.

"Then she's got amnesia too? She's clearly your daughter!" Vaike laughed again.

"Sure." Robin said, rolling his eyes. He got up. "Well, I'm going to sleep. See you all tomorrow." He lazily waved at the Shepherds and left before someone could say something else.

The bad thing about staying at inns was that he rarely, if ever, could enjoy the privacy of his own tent, unlike whenever they set camp. The good thing was that he usually shared with Frederick. Proper bed aside.

He sat on his bed and stretched, cracking the joints at his back. He was more tired that he had realized, and the anxiety hadn't helped on the way back. While he waited, he took his bag and grabbed the spear of the ruins. It had some rust in several parts, but Robin could feel some magical power emanating from the metal. It could be quite useful, but it needed a clean-up, and they wouldn't stay in the port town for long. He briefly wondered if it wouldn't be better to just sell, but it would still take time to find a collector willing to buy it for a high price.

The door opened forcefully, startling him and making the spear fall to the floor. He blinked in confusion, staring at who had entered through the door. It was just Chrom, Lucina and Morgan.

"I messed up! I'm sorry!" Morgan whined.

But Lucina's serious expression didn't change. "I told you to be careful! What were you thinking?!"

"I'm sorry! I was just... so excited..."

Robin sighted and got up. "Alright, alright. Let's calm down, it's not the end of the world…" he approached both of them and touched their shoulders softly. "We need to focus on Valm, so we'll pretend she's amnesiac for a while. Alright?" He looked at Lucina.

His daughter sighted and nodded. Morgain kept staring at the floor, feeling guilty. Chrom just kept staring at them. Robin gave him a tired smile.

"Congrats on your second fatherhood." He said.

Chrom sighed and put a hand of his face. On the list of things he wasn't expecting, having a second daughter was almost as high finding out Lucina came from the future.

* * *

 **And another one!**

 **A million thanks to my beta, DestructionDragon360. I wouldn't have been able to come so far without your help!**


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